Drums: Yep, it's Slate. I think it's a CLA Snare with the Reverb of Snare13 and Kick10 (could be Kick 12, I´m in the office and can't remember). I started with a zombie kit in Superior Drummer with different kit pieces from different addons, but the further we went into production the more I wanted to be on the "safe" side with my samples. Also tried GGD and Eyals Drumforge-Samples, but they didn't feel right for this song.
Synth: I´m a Cubase guy, so no Logic synths. My weapon of choice for synths is Kontakt, but our singer wrote the synth parts for Hammer Down and he used https://www.lennardigital.com/sylenth1/
Mix: Your mix has a lot of power - and I absolutely love it. The first riff hits very, very hard, the drums are super punchy. Everything sounds bigger and larger than life.
The vocals could be more upfront imho, they get lost in the chorus, especially in the last chorus. The mix sounds a bit squashed when the chorus hits which is okay for me, but you might wanna back of the limiter just a tiny little bit. If the mix loses some of its power and br00talness, I would leave it like it is
There is probably more to lose than to gain here.
Both verses could come down in volume/wideness just a bit more to make the bridge and chorus even bigger. Try to pan the guitars and synth tracks 50% to the middle instead of 100% L/R and pan them 100% L/R in the bridge and chorus. You can also bring down the volume in verse by 1db. Listen if this makes impact of the bridge and chorus even bigger, but don't push your luck too far. The difference should be felt, not heard.
There is a slight low-end buildup in the solo because of the doublebass. you need to control that with an automated low shelf or use a multiband compressor. It's not much, but it's there and it's kinda distracting
Yes, the mix sounds kinda distorted and squashed and I would probably not mix it that hot, but damn I had a great time listening to your mix. It has more energy and excitement compared with my mix and now I´m not sure if I like your version better than mine, hahahaha
Edit: Before someone mysteriously gives you a 1-star-rating, let me put your mix in the right place first, hahaha
Synth: I´m a Cubase guy, so no Logic synths. My weapon of choice for synths is Kontakt, but our singer wrote the synth parts for Hammer Down and he used https://www.lennardigital.com/sylenth1/
Mix: Your mix has a lot of power - and I absolutely love it. The first riff hits very, very hard, the drums are super punchy. Everything sounds bigger and larger than life.
The vocals could be more upfront imho, they get lost in the chorus, especially in the last chorus. The mix sounds a bit squashed when the chorus hits which is okay for me, but you might wanna back of the limiter just a tiny little bit. If the mix loses some of its power and br00talness, I would leave it like it is
There is probably more to lose than to gain here. Both verses could come down in volume/wideness just a bit more to make the bridge and chorus even bigger. Try to pan the guitars and synth tracks 50% to the middle instead of 100% L/R and pan them 100% L/R in the bridge and chorus. You can also bring down the volume in verse by 1db. Listen if this makes impact of the bridge and chorus even bigger, but don't push your luck too far. The difference should be felt, not heard.
There is a slight low-end buildup in the solo because of the doublebass. you need to control that with an automated low shelf or use a multiband compressor. It's not much, but it's there and it's kinda distracting
Yes, the mix sounds kinda distorted and squashed and I would probably not mix it that hot, but damn I had a great time listening to your mix. It has more energy and excitement compared with my mix and now I´m not sure if I like your version better than mine, hahahaha
Edit: Before someone mysteriously gives you a 1-star-rating, let me put your mix in the right place first, hahaha