The Best Logic Pro Plugins For Modern Metal

Logic Pro is an absolute beast of a DAW right out of the box. Its stock plugins, from the EQs and compressors to the amp sims, are surprisingly powerful. But to get that hyper-polished, face-meltingly heavy sound that defines modern metal production, you’re going to need to expand your arsenal.

The bar for production quality is higher than ever. Even local bands are expected to have mixes that can stand up against releases from established national acts. This means your tracks need to be tight, punchy, and clear, especially when dealing with the unique challenges of metal: low tunings, dense arrangements, and the need for everything to hit as hard as possible.

Think of Logic as your solid foundation. This list is the custom-built superstructure you need to construct a pro-level metal mix. These are the plugins that will help you achieve inhumanly tight drums, guitars that chug without turning to mud, and a final mix that’s loud and proud.

Drums: For Inhuman Punch and Precision

Modern metal drum sounds are a combination of incredible playing, meticulous editing, and smart sample replacement. It’s all about creating a foundation that’s both surgically precise and powerful. While Logic’s Drummer is cool, it won’t get you the sound you need.

GetGood Drums

If you want drums that sound like a finished metal record from the moment you load the plugin, look no further. Founded by the guys from Periphery (Misha Mansoor, Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood, and Matt Halpern), GetGood Drums libraries are designed specifically for modern aggressive music.

Why it’s essential for metal:

• Mix-Ready Sounds: Unlike many other drum libraries that give you raw, unprocessed sounds, GGD kits are already EQ’d, compressed, and processed to fit straight into a dense metal mix. This saves you a ton of time.
• Built by the Best: These samples were created by producers and drummers who defined the sound of modern metal. They know exactly what’s needed.
• Actionable Tip: Load up the P IV Matt Halpern Signature Pack. Instead of relying on presets, build your own kit. Try blending the ‘Alpha’ kick with the ‘Omega’ snare for a perfect balance of low-end punch and sharp crack. Use the built-in Slate-style master bus compressor in the GGD mixer to add some extra glue before the signal even leaves the plugin.

Slate Digital Trigger 2

Sample replacement isn’t a dirty secret; it’s a standard operating procedure in modern metal to ensure every single drum hit is consistent and powerful. Trigger 2 is the industry-standard tool for the job.

Why it’s essential for metal:

• Accuracy: Trigger’s algorithm is incredibly good at detecting drum transients and avoiding misfires, even on fast blast beats or complex fills.
• Blending Power: You don’t have to fully replace the original drum. The real magic is in blending a punchy kick sample underneath your live kick or adding a crisp snare sample to your live snare to enhance the attack.
• Actionable Tip: On a snare track, load up Trigger 2. Find a snappy sample you like (the Slate library has tons). Instead of turning the Mix knob to 100%, set it around 50-70%. Then, flip the phase on the sample. This will thin out the body of the combined sound but leave you with an insane amount of crack and attack from both the original and the sample.

Guitars: Taming the Low-Tuned Beast

Dealing with 8-string guitars tuned to Drop F is a whole different ballgame than mixing standard-tuned rock guitars. You need plugins that can handle insane amounts of gain without turning the low end into a swampy mess. This is where high-quality amp simulators absolutely shine.

Neural DSP Archetype Series

There’s a reason you see Neural DSP plugins on the screens of nearly every major metal producer today. Their Archetype series plugins are complete, self-contained rigs that deliver album-quality tones instantly.

Why it’s essential for metal:

• Unmatched Realism: The modeling is simply next-level. Whether you’re after the crushing gain of the Archetype: Gojira or the articulate prog-metal tones of the Archetype: Plini, the sound and feel are spot on.
• All-In-One Solution: Each plugin comes with pre-effects (overdrives, compressors), multiple amps, a powerful cab sim section with movable mics, and post-effects (EQ, delay, reverb). It’s a full signal chain in one window.
• Actionable Tip: When dialing in a high-gain tone on the Archetype: Nolly, don’t just rely on the amp’s EQ. Engage the 9-band graphic EQ in the post-effects section. Use it to make surgical cuts to tame fizz (often a narrow cut around 4-8kHz) and to scoop out muddy low-mids (around 250-400Hz). This is a crucial step in EQing metal guitars for maximum impact and ensures your chugs are defined, not flubby.

Bass: Cutting Through the Wall of Sound

What does a bass guitar even do when the rhythm guitars are playing in the same octave? Its job is to provide foundational low-end weight while also adding a layer of metallic grind and clank that helps the riff be heard.

Neural DSP Darkglass Ultra

The sound of a Darkglass pedal is the sound of modern metal bass. The Darkglass Ultra plugin from Neural DSP brings that signature aggressive, clanky tone right into Logic.

Why it’s essential for metal:

• The Signature Grind: It perfectly captures the specific midrange distortion that allows a bass to cut through two, four, or even more high-gain guitar tracks.
• Signal Splitting: Like the real pedals, it lets you process the distorted high end separately from the clean low end, giving you a tone that’s both gritty and massive.
• Actionable Tip: Use Logic to create the classic parallel processing chain. Duplicate your DI bass track. On the first track, leave the Darkglass plugin bypassed or off—this is your clean sub-bass. Use a low-pass filter to cut everything above ~200Hz. On the second track, load up the Darkglass Ultra and go wild with the distortion, then use a high-pass filter to cut everything below ~200Hz. Now you can blend the two tracks together for a perfectly balanced bass tone with clean lows and aggressive mids.

Mix Bus & Utilities: The Final Polish

Great plugins aren’t just about making things loud; they’re about solving problems and adding that final 10% of polish that separates a demo from a pro mix.

FabFilter Pro-Q 3

Logic’s stock EQ is good. FabFilter’s Pro-Q 3 is legendary. It’s the Swiss Army knife of EQs and an absolute essential for any serious producer.

Why it’s essential for metal:

• Surgical Precision: The interface is clean, intuitive, and lets you get ridiculously specific with your EQ moves, which is vital for carving out space in a dense metal mix.
• Dynamic EQ: This is a game-changer. You can set an EQ band to only cut or boost when a certain frequency crosses a threshold. Perfect for taming harsh cymbal hits without dulling them for the entire song.
• Actionable Tip: Put Pro-Q 3 on your main guitar bus. Find the fundamental frequency of the kick drum (often around 60-80Hz) and the main snare crack (around 200-250Hz). Set up dynamic EQs on the guitar bus to cut those frequencies, but only when the kick and snare hits. This creates instant space for the drums to punch through the guitars without you having to carve up your guitar tone.

oeksound Soothe2

Ever struggle with harsh cymbals, fizzy guitars, or overly sibilant vocals? Soothe2 is your secret weapon. It’s a dynamic resonance suppressor that automatically identifies and reduces harsh frequencies in real-time.

Why it’s essential for metal:

• Tames Harshness Transparently: Metal mixes are full of high-frequency information from cymbals and distorted guitars. Soothe2 masterfully smooths out the harsh parts without making your mix sound dark or lifeless.
• Saves You Time: Instead of spending hours hunting down and notching out annoying whistle-tones or fizzy spots, Soothe2 just… handles it.
• Actionable Tip: Place Soothe2 on your drum overheads or cymbal bus. Set it to be fairly sensitive on the high-mids (2-5kHz) and high end (8kHz and up). It will instantly tame the abrasive washiness of the cymbals, allowing you to turn them up in the mix for more energy without them becoming painful to listen to.

Beyond Plugins: Learn From The Pros

Having the right tools is a huge part of the battle, but the real key is knowing how to use them. Learning world-class techniques for compression and EQ is what separates the amateurs from the pros. Imagine watching the producers who actually mixed albums for bands like Gojira, Lamb of God, and Periphery use these very plugins to craft their signature sounds.

At Nail The Mix, that’s exactly what you get. Every month, you get the full multitracks from a real metal song and watch the original producer mix it from scratch, explaining every single decision they make. You get to see how legendary instructors dial in their drums, shape their guitar tones, and glue their mixes together.

If you’re ready to see how the best in the business use these tools to create incredible metal mixes, check out our full catalog of Nail The Mix sessions and take your productions to the next level.