So, here's my mix with a quick (and slightly over compressed) master.

[crissmichaels]

Everything was mixed using stock plugins in Reaper, except for the bass guitar. For that, I used 3 copies of the bass track. Bass1 has Amplitube Metal using the clean amp, Modern Metal F1 cab, and a 421. Bass 2 is the Metal Lead amp just above the clean, same cab and mic. Bass 3 is the dry track with a slight eq boost at 6k and some light compression.

[crissmichaels]

Everything was mixed using stock plugins in Reaper, except for the bass guitar. For that, I used 3 copies of the bass track. Bass1 has Amplitube Metal using the clean amp, Modern Metal F1 cab, and a 421. Bass 2 is the Metal Lead amp just above the clean, same cab and mic. Bass 3 is the dry track with a slight eq boost at 6k and some light compression.

I should also add:

Bass1 has a low pass filter. ReaEQ, preset "Bass Low pass." I also compressed the crap out of this track. Threshold of -30dB and a ratio of 8:1.
Bass2 has a slight EQ boost around 6k and the low end chopped off around 200Hz.

Bass2 is around -12dB. Any higher and the distortion is too much. Any lower and I might as well not have that track at all.

[crissmichaels]

As for the master, I'm pretty sure the issue is in both the exciter and either the soft clipper or master limiter. I'll be reattempting this one without the exciter soon and updating what I've got uploaded.

[Blitzzz]

I had feared the worst after reading your posts, but to my surprise, the mix sounds pretty good. Overcompressed, yes. But the balance is very good, everything is in the right place, and nothing sounds weird. Good work, mate.

[crissmichaels]

*UPDATE*

So, I fixed the issues with the master as well as the compression on the kick drum. I also made the melody guitars more audible in the mix. Here's the updated mix. Any feedback is appreciated.

[crissmichaels]

Aaaaaaand now the more I listen to it, I'm realizing the melody guitars are a little too much. I'll fix that (most likely just a level issue) and update accordingly. I'm back at work, so it'll be about a week or so.

Also, in the new mix, I turned the snare sample down. It wasn't really needed, but I kept it in at a low level. Different textures are always nice.

[Blitzzz]

Uh, you really lost the balance in this mix. Vocals are buried in the mix, melodies are too loud. The first mix was much better.

[crissmichaels]

Yeah, I realized that after listening to it at work. Usually, even professional releases sound worse on that stereo (Freightliner really dropped the ball when they chose a stereo system for the New Cascadia), but the second one sounded better until the melody guitars came in. I'll be fixing both of those issues as soon as I can.

[Blitzzz]

No sweat, the vocals could be a tad louder, too. Especially all the additional vocal lines

[crissmichaels]

So, after tweaking a few things on this mix, I played it on the stereo system in my living room. It sounds like I fixed the issues I had in both mixes. Not only that, I want to say what an excellent performance this is. I got goosebumps where the last chorus comes in from just the synth

Let me know what you think!