Download Loathe “New Faces In The Dark” raw multi-tracks (mixed by George Lever)

Loathe’s sound is an absolute masterclass in contrasts. One minute you’re floating in a hauntingly beautiful soundscape, the next you’re getting your head ripped off by a gut-punch of a riff. Their track “New Faces In The Dark” is a perfect showcase of this dynamic, and thanks to the Nail The Mix session with producer George Lever, we can pull back the curtain and see exactly what makes this monster tick.

Diving into these raw multi-tracks reveals that the magic isn’t just in the killer riffs and vocals; it’s in the deep, cinematic layers of production that function as their own instrument. Let’s break down some of the killer techniques you can find in this session and apply to your own mixes.

More Than a Band: Cinematic Sound Design as an Instrument

Right away, you’ll notice the Pro Tools session for this track is loaded with production and FX tracks. The core song arrangement is deceptively simple, but that’s intentional. It creates a massive canvas for the sound design to paint a scene and drive the emotional impact of the track.

Creating the “Silent Hill” Vibe

The atmosphere in “New Faces In The Dark” is thick and unnerving, like something straight out of a survival horror video game. This isn’t an accident. You’ll find dedicated tracks labeled things like “Shy” and “Silent” that are pure, creepy ear candy. These aren’t just simple synth pads; they’re carefully crafted, evolving sounds that build tension and give the track a signature, freaky character. Making all these unique layers work together without turning into a muddy mess requires some smart moves. You’ll need precise EQ strategies to carve out a specific place for each sound design element so they can be felt without cluttering the core instruments.

Unconventional Percussion Layers

Forget just relying on a standard drum kit. Loathe and George Lever get seriously creative with supplemental percussion. You’ll find wild samples that add unique texture and impact:

• Drum Piano: One of the most interesting tracks is a sound literally named “Drum Piano.” It sounds exactly like it’s described—someone using a piano as a percussive instrument, creating a jarring, unique rhythmic element.
• Found Sounds: To add more weight to the snare hits, you’ll find layers of an Anvil and a Fire Extinguisher. These non-musical, industrial sounds are perfect for adding a sharp, aggressive transient that helps the snare cut through the dense guitars, especially in the heavier sections.

Building Deceptive and Devastating Guitar Tones

When you get to the guitars, you’re working with raw DI tracks—the perfect blank slate. The tones in this song are both crushing and full of character, achieved through a combination of great plugins and smart layering.

Instant Power with Neural DSP

The session notes mention that George Lever used Neural DSP amp sims. Just for fun, you can throw the Fortin Nameless Suite on the DI track, and even on its default setting, it sounds absolutely sick. It’s a testament to both a well-recorded DI signal and the power of modern plugins. The tone is instantly beefy, aggressive, and ready to go with minimal fuss.

Creative DI Processing and Layering

This track is full of awesome guitar production tricks. In one section, you’ll find a stuttering, pitch-shifted sound that was created by processing the raw DI before it even hit the amp sim. It’s a great reminder to think outside the box; your DI track is ripe for creative manipulation.

For the biggest breakdowns, the guitars are quad-tracked. But it’s not just four identical tracks. The main rhythm guitars are supplemented by an additional stereo pair playing the same riff an octave higher. This adds immense width and a crushing sense of weight when that part hits, making the section feel truly enormous.

Vocal Production with a Built-In Vibe

The vocal performance in this track is incredibly dynamic, shifting from haunting, beautiful cleans to raw, nasty screams. The production approach preserves this by baking some of the key effects right into the audio tracks.

Using Printed Effects as a Guide

In the chorus, you’ll hear a stereo vocal track with a prominent delay and a filtered, megaphone-like quality. What’s cool is that this effect is printed directly onto the audio file. This is a common pro move. It communicates the artist’s and producer’s vision clearly, giving you a definitive “vibe” to build the mix around. Instead of guessing what kind of delay to use, you have the intended sound right there, allowing you to focus on making the surrounding instruments supplement the vocal perfectly.

Rescuing a Vintage Drum Sound

Here’s a classic real-world production challenge. The notes from George Lever reveal that the original live drum recordings were done on a very “vintage-y” kit, which included toms with no resonant heads. While that can be a cool sound in some contexts, it just wasn’t cutting it for the pummeling, modern sound this record needed.

The Art of Sample Augmentation

The solution? Heavy sample augmentation. George’s task was to take that vintage-sounding kit and transform it into a monstrous, slamming force that could stand up to the massive guitars. This involves carefully selecting drum samples that complement the live shells and blending them in to add punch, weight, and consistency. Getting this blend right is an art form. It’s about more than just making it loud; it requires smart gating and metal compression secrets to glue the live and sampled sounds together into one cohesive, powerful drum performance.

Bring the Chaos Together in Your Own Mix

Exploring the “New Faces In The Dark” multi-tracks is an incredible look into modern, creative metal production. It’s a blend of raw power, cinematic sound design, and clever problem-solving.

Reading about these techniques is one thing, but actually getting your hands dirty and mixing them yourself is how you really learn. Want to try your hand at taming this chaos and building your own mix? Get the full Loathe multi-tracks and watch George Lever’s complete mixing masterclass right now on Nail The Mix.

Learning from the pros is the fastest way to elevate your own productions. Seeing how they handle real-world sessions, solve problems, and make creative decisions in real-time is the key to unlocking your sound and mixing modern metal beyond presets.