I love this song so much that I find it hard to concentrate on technical issues -- I keep getting distracted.
The preview mix here is already pretty accomplished, but you've certainly given it a good run for its money! The thing I most like about your version is that,
despite mastering it louder than the preview, you've nonetheless managed to get more punch out of the kick and snare in the heavier sections -- you've chosen a better balance of those against the track to my ears, as well as judging your buss compression more carefully to avoid flattening them too much. You've also pretty much matched the preview's guitar impact, although I feel maybe you could do a fraction more with the bass for small-speaker listeners, because it gets lost a bit there. I like the fact that you've given those sections a touch more effects 'bloom' too. Are the cymbals getting a bit lost maybe at the top end? I'd probably try to ease them up a little in the top octave myself.
Where I think the preview gets one over you, though (to my mind at least) is in the less heavy sections. It's not anything specific in terms of pure sonics -- I think it's mostly to do with automation. It's partly that I think the preview mix seems to be taking a more dynamic approach to its effects levels, so you get more of a wet/dry and open/closed thing going on. For example, at the start of the section beginning at 3:24 in your mix, the preview mix has its vocal much drier, but by about 4:06 (timing based on your version again) the preview is beginning to sound wetter than your version.
However, the preview also just seems to take a few more risks with its balance in general, going for bolder section contrasts which I think really help reinforce the histrionics of a production like this. Again, compare the section starting at 4:27 in your mix with the same section of the preview -- the preview is right up the listener's nose, almost uncomfortably so, but it does make a real statement. Or, to put it another way, see
Mixerman's rules 4 and 11.
Overall, though, this is a really good mix -- the suggestions I'm making here are about trying for bonus points, frankly, because you're already ticking all the standard boxes with confidence.
Thanks for giving me another enjoyable excuse to spend time with this song!
