Sound Mixing Can’t Make It…

But inept sound mixing can break an album.

I was reminded of this while first listening to the new Nightwish album, Yesterwynde. The vocals are nonsensically drowned out by symphonic metal melodies, and yet the guitars still fail to “crunch” like they do in better Nightwish albums. The album needs more voice and guitar, balance be damned.

As a result I find the album to be an “elevator music” type of experience.

It brings to mind my thoughts on the Slayer discography. Though Reign in Blood is arguably the best album compositionally, I’ve met several first-time Slayer listeners who prefer the more recent Christ Illusion. The production values of the latter are far superior. A budget goes a long way. That’s not to say that Reign in Blood is bad, just that the album is sonically less immersive by today’s standards. Again, the machine-gun riffs “crunch” more crisply on Christ Illusion. and it makes the album more immersive.

So why was Yesterwynde mixed so poorly? I can only guess that those in charge of the album’s vision prioritized a “balanced sound.” The problem with this approach is that balance rarely if ever leads to artistic greatness. Creative minds are typically unbalanced because it’s only in the realm of insanity that creativity can thrive, which is why any impactful band will choose to live there.

So that is one of several reasons why one listen of Yesterwynde was enough for me. I’ll take Imaginaerium over that album any day.