Kill or Cure - Season's End. Results using Axe Fx II in band mix & key benefits

[DanH]

Hi all, I hope you don't mind me sharing a link to my band's new song as it features the Axe Fx II in a rock/metal band context:

Kill or Cure - Season's End
Link to video: Season's End by Kill or Cure - YouTube

I've heard a lot of useful rock instrumental mixes on this forum, but not so many examples with vocals. The Axe Fx II has been a godsend in getting the Kill or Cure debut album done in a way that fits our working methods.

The key advantages of the Axe Fx for me have been:
- Direct USB recording day or night from home or studio - no need to annoy the neighbours; portable - set up any location with the exact same direct recording sound
- Reamping - at mixing stage we had a rethink about the tones we'd initially chosen. As we'd recorded the unprocessed track via USB too, we were able to reamp and try a second mix which we were much happier with. This saved a lot of rerecording and tears!
- Sound quality. I initially demoed tracks with a Pod X3, and while I have heard some people get great tones with it, I was never able to, so we rejected our initial demo tones. Much happier with the Axe Fx tones. (NB the bass guitar track is Pod X3 as the recording predated my Axe purchase.)

Guitar setup was as follows:
- 2 tracks of a mahogany Ibanez RG w/ Dimarzio bridge (probably D-Sonic at the time); 2 tracks of an alder Jackson w/ EMG 85 bridge
Axe Firmware v3, various Das Metal patches into Pro Tools 9 on a laptop.
We're still finalising the mix, but we are settling on something thick and organic rather than clinical.

If you enjoy it, you'll find Kill or Cure on Facebook - the rest of the album is due in a couple of months. Either way, I hope you find my experiences with Fractal gear useful feedback.

Cheers, Dan.

[lizzieusedaaxe]

Wow!! Really liked it, good job