NationStates Jolt Archive

My band, Toyz in the Cellar, recorded its first song today. Though it's far from professional, it's a fairly decent basement recording done through a mixer and PC. In case you're wondering, I do the vocals.

We're a very dynamic band that really doesn't stick to one style of playing. The song we have posted on our Myspace page is called 'The Never Ending Hell', and is a song that came about by pure accident.

So, I'd like to know what NS metalheads think of our work so far. Like I said eariler, it's still nothing more than a demo at this point. We'll be recording another song next weekend, and working on new material.

www.myspace.com/toyzinthecellar

The Myspace player really sucks, but if you want a cleaner version, send me an IM and I can transfer it to you (My screen name is Automagfreek). We're not letting anyone download our song from Myspace for a few more weeks until our first show is over.

Let me know what you think!

not bad, maybe a little generic and i'm not sure all the parts work that well together... also loose the higher screams they sound kinda annoying and silly... otherwise not bad at all.

Yeah, the high screams didn't come off as planned.....

We had the vocal levels set on the mixer to sound right with the growls, and in order to not max out the volume and have distortion I had to stand about 5 feet away from the mic. It sounds crappy, but for a basement recording it was all we could do. It sounds much better in person.

But thanks for checking it out!

Some of the drum work doesn't work too well. Some of the bits, the screaming in particular, sounds out of place. Not all of it, but some. Pretty much all the tempo shifts sounds unintentional. I'd suggest either being sudden about it, or building up to them with more than a quick drum roll, of which I think you already have far too many.

"never ending hell" seems like a bit of a cliched title, you guys need some kind of new take on the genre or some kind of hook like nile's ancient egypt filter threw lovecraft theme... also toyz in the cellar seems to much like toys in the attic and aerosmith is really not the image i think you're going for.

Some of the drum work doesn't work too well. Some of the bits, the screaming in particular, sounds out of place. Not all of it, but some. Pretty much all the tempo shifts sounds unintentional. I'd suggest either being sudden about it, or building up to them with more than a quick drum roll, of which I think you already have far too many.

That's because we're a bit more dynamic with our drumming. We change it up between heavy and light kicks so the song does not become overly repetitive and boring.

And we did try a slow buildup before the chorus, but it did not match what we were going for: more of an old school, Iron Maiden, Slayer, and Death sound. As I said before, the screams are an unfortunate by-product of basement recording equipment, and having to jump back 5 feet every time I had to scream.


"never ending hell" seems like a bit of a cliched title, you guys need some kind of new take on the genre or some kind of hook like nile's ancient egypt filter threw lovecraft theme... also toyz in the cellar seems to much like toys in the attic and aerosmith is really not the image i think you're going for.

Our band plays all different kinds of metal, we don't play just speed, death, thrash, etc. Our other song we're working on is more of a speed metal song called 'True American Way', which is more instrumental with a vocal supplement. Our goal is to not be stuck playing one kind of music.

I don't listen to Aerosmith, so I wouldn't know. Plus this band has been around for 2 years, and I joined like 4 months ago. I don't think we're going to change it. :P

You say it came about by accident? Sure sounds like it: the lead singer has his head trapped in the toilet, and the guitarists have no arms (they use their elbows instead).

Wow, I stumbled on this thread because I misread the title.

I had thought it said "Meatheads, your opinion."

And, not knowing many "meatheads" myself, or many Rob Reiner fans for that matter (that was for the over 30's on the boards), I thought I'd check it out.

Sorry, just had to say something after noticing my mistake...

Move along...

In terms of the vocals, I woud suggest putting a lot more force into the lower vocals, because otherwise the "Roaring" effect comes across more like belching (which may be comic, but probably isn't what you want). That could just be your equiptment, though, since a basement recording may not always have the same sensitivity as other equiptment. I like the solo, although it does stand out against the sound of the guitars before it begins, I suggest either building tempo into it or during the start of the solo.

I figure you'll get the higher pitched screams fixed up so that they work a little better, so I won't harp on them. I liked the way that you varried speeds, but I really do concur that the sudden shift should be smoothed out slightly, either by (as was previousl suggested) slowly building speed, or by using a second of silence between one speed and the next (which is a nice dramatic trick too).

Of course my connection to metal is mild at best, so I don't know what the tricks of the trade are for metal and all that.

All in all, it's really quiite good though.

That's because we're a bit more dynamic with our drumming. We change it up between heavy and light kicks so the song does not become overly repetitive and boring.

And we did try a slow buildup before the chorus, but it did not match what we were going for: more of an old school, Iron Maiden, Slayer, and Death sound. As I said before, the screams are an unfortunate by-product of basement recording equipment, and having to jump back 5 feet every time I had to scream.Heh, I can relate.

Still, the drums don't work. There's a lot of redundant pedaling going on & quite a few drum rolls that need to skip a few beats. Of course, I'm at a slight disadvantage here, because the recording is pretty lousy & the computer I'm at is even worse. For example, I almost can't make out the bass & guitars at the same time. That said, I'd probably try following the melody a bit closer, if I was the drummer. And you should definitly tone up the bass.

I didn't mean you should abandon your tempo shifts or radically change the drums, only that both need some work. And.. Don't take it the wrong way. I like what you're doing. Otherwise I wouldn't bother criticising you ;)

It's both a combination of basement equipment and the really shitty Myspace player. You lose so much quality listening to it on Myspace that it's almost sad. In my car and on my iTunes it sounds a LOT better, and you can make out the bass a lot easier.

I dunno, the drums is probably just a matter of personal taste. I'm a fan of machine gun fast kicks and so are the guys in my band, though we don't do it in every song. This was sort of our 'let's play rough and old school' track.

But yeah, it definately needs some polishing. Once we get into an actual studio some day it will be loads better in terms of quality. But for a first recording, I'm happy with it. Of course nothing beats hearing it live though. :P

It was better than I had expected it to be.

I thought the drums and guitars did not sync that well. Either the guitars should have been faster or the drums slower. From 0:5x-1:1x (Myspace player sucks tomuch to show the last didget) the drums and guitars seem to match eachother better. Also, during the solo, the guitars playing the continuous rythmn are kinda distracting. I did not much care for the vocals, but that is more a reflection of my general dislike the whole roary, grunty singing style than anything on your part. I do except your excuse that it is the equipments fault the screams didn't work, I think it does take a mic that was designed with screaming in mind for it to work out right.

i don't think its the mic that's the problem, you just need so kind of moderate distortion on the higher screams... i always liked to scream through a bass amp on the verge of feeding back on itself, but then even alot of my friends thought i left something to be desired in the vocals department back in my punk rock youth.

of course my first post here has to be in a metalhead thread...


Good job i actually like it... cant say i have anything technical to say about it at all... but i'd certainly go to your show. Might even buy the album.

sounds like you show promise - keep at it :)

guitar work is kinda plain for the most part. you have too much of a death or grindcore sound to my ears to go for stoner guitar work so vamp that up a bit (work in some interesting fills and layer the occasional/a few more solo(s) or something)

also i'd say that the sound is generally good bar the guitars - need to get more bass from them. other than that, good. what amps or recording equipment you using?


edit: here seems as good a place as any to plug my mate's band's songs ;) here (http://www.hlj.me.uk/Audio/Erebus%20song%2024%2707%2705.mp3)and here (http://www.hlj.me.uk/Audio/let%20the%20lies%2024%2707%2705.mp3) :P
(which i recorded/produced so this isn't totally random - i can recommend software to record on the cheap if you like)