METALLICA Chooses Fractal Audio Axe-Fx IIs for Silent Antarctica Concert

lqdsnddist said:
To be blunt, tone sounds like what I used to get when I was a teenager and used to jam Metallica songs using my Line6 POD with their Mesa model. Can't say if it matches their current live tone as I haven't seen them in ages, but really didn't come close to the live or album tones I remember growing up with...
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I read someone's post that mentioned that they TM'd their live rig... then someone said the Axe sounded better than their live rig.

Aside from James' playing being sloppy as hell (at first listen I thought might have been Kirk but then when Kirk kicked into the solo in Creeping Death - the only song I've heard so far - then I knew it was James). I bet if you cranked the sh*t out of this it would sound amazing... the problem is that the tone is very low, even when I cranked my headphones it was very low. Another point: I'm guessing they were trying to go back to their 'Justice' days because the bass was nowhere to be heard. (Edit: Just listened to "Bell"... that's the only place I've heard it clearly so far with those two tracks). :)

As I said, I sure it sounded great to those in attendance because they probably cranked the sh*t out of it!
 
James' playing sounds like how I play those songs when I'm too cold. I need to wear long sleeves to get any use out of my picking because those muscles and tendons just seize up if I don't have the opportunity to warm them up properly.... and it's not just touch warm either, but a deep muscular warmth. It feels like you don't have complete control over your arm and hands, like when you're trying to play while drunk and can't work out why it just. wont. WORK! ;)

You know what I mean though. Anyone who expected this to go off without a hitch... I dunno. I scratch my head. lol! :)

I did like his tone though. He didn't have his usual level of control (to be expected in that climate) which I think people are associating with the pure guitar tone.
 
Admin M@ said:
The Silent Disco system allows audience members to tap in to different mixes. Depending on which one you choose, the LEDs in your headset change a different color. It's a really cool concept.
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Maybe it explain the lack of ambience/reverb in the youtube's videos. It makes me wonder if it's the reason Kirt had no wah on his solos.
 
Lots of us have taken months / years to refine gig worthy patches. And this is Metallica's first outing with the Axefx2, so it stands to reason that if they used them over a longer period then their patches would improve out of sight. If I had my first public gig with the Axefx2 plastered all over Youtube I wouldn't exactly be happy about it. But you have to start somewhere.

It also sounds like someone has done a very rough "demo" quality mix and thrown it up there. Everything is still dry as and the volumes are all over the place.
 
the whole sound is horrible. Whatever mix + so-so streaming + whatever streaming capture tool used = Antarctica, baaaad (with that voice from the post-Napster flash movies).
Let's wait for an official release, and not on youtube ;)
 
Congrats to Fractal for landing yet another of the biggest acts in the world, it's very well deserved.

notalemming said:
If they are so concerned about the environment in Antarctica, why go there at all? Sounds more like a publicity stunt than anything.
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I totally agree - it's a publicity stunt, it's about being the first ones to do it, nothing more, and the net effect of the effort is anything but environmentally friendly.

Personally I like the Black album, and I recognise their importance in rock/metal, but I'm not really a Metallica fan or a fan of the metal-genre - to each their own - variety is the spice of life.
 
This has me wondering how cold it was in that bubble. I played cold gigs before, it was near impossible to get a straight note out. I'll admit that's only marginally worse than I usually play. This sounds like it was very cold indeed.

Trying to come into some Metappreciation here. Lots of people seem to appreciate them. Must be something to it.
Come to think of it, however, I can't remember ever hearing Kirk play anything that impressed me. Anyone have any examples that blow the socks off?
 
wow, I've just watched Kirk's solo on One, and yeah, obviously it was very cold :mrgreen
but still, it's an incredible place to play, and a small gig under that transparent dome, with fans this close, it must have been an awesome experience for them

EDIT : for the fun, I "remastered" the broadcast, here's an extract - right click, save as :
http://pages.intnet.mu/fremen/Mp3s/Metallica_Antarctica_original_and_remastered.wav
from 0:00 to 1:24 it's the original, low quality sound, then my remaster, using that low quality source.
 
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I'd love to have Hetfield's clean patch for "One." That sound is so thick and full with no fuzz or clipping at all.
 
think i'll reserve judgement on the tone; youtube isn't renowned for hifi sound across the board.
don't know much about metallica these days, but i guess it's more to do with getting to play on every continent. and why the hell not. impressed that they managed it, no other group ever did before.
 
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