Joel Wanasek’s Death Metal Mastering: Cognizance Mix Insights

Alright, so you’ve sweated over your death metal track, dialed in those brutal guitar tones, and got the drums pounding. But how do you take it from a collection of well-recorded tracks to a cohesive, face-melting final product? We got a peek into Joel Wanasek’s process as he put the finishing touches on a track by the killer UK death metal band, Cognizance. It’s less about secret formulas and more about smart, targeted moves that make a big difference. Let’s dive into some of the key takeaways you can apply to your own heavy mixes.

The journey to a killer mix involves countless small decisions, and seeing how pros navigate this is invaluable. If you’re serious about upping your game, Nail The Mix offers an incredible opportunity to learn directly from the best in the business.

Sharpening the Axe: Initial Mastering EQ for Cognizance

First things first, Joel jumps into some mastering EQ. This isn’t about reinventing the wheel but about cleaning up and enhancing what’s already there. Before even cranking the volume, he applies a few precise cuts.

The Power of Subtractive EQ

Think of it like chiseling a sculpture. Sometimes, removing a little bit of material reveals the true form. Joel uses narrow parametric EQ cuts, just a couple of dB here and there. Why? Because across an entire mix, certain problematic frequencies can build up, creating mud or harshness.
He points out how these small, targeted cuts make a surprising difference, instantly making the mix sound clearer. These aren’t broad strokes; they’re surgical. You’re looking for those specific spots where frequencies are clashing or over-represented.

• Actionable Tip: Load up a good parametric EQ on your master bus. Sweep around with a narrow Q (bandwidth) and listen for resonant frequencies or areas that feel congested. Try cutting these by 1-3 dB. You might be surprised how much it opens up your mix. For more in-depth strategies on taming frequencies, check out our EQ hub page: Carve Your Core EQ Strategies for Mixing Modern Metal.

Once these initial EQ tweaks are in place, it’s time to bring up the overall level and see how the mix stacks up against references and for overall impact.

Dialing in the Details: Instrument Tweaks for Impact

With the mastering EQ providing a cleaner canvas, Joel starts listening critically to individual elements within the Cognizance track. This is where you catch those little things that can elevate a mix from good to great.

Taming the Low Octave Growl

A low octave guitar part was jumping out a bit too much in one section. The solution? Simple automation to bring its level down. Joel also notes it sounds “a little bit funky” and “kind of rough,” suggesting a potential EQ tweak might be needed on that specific track to smooth it out, even after the level adjustment. It’s a good reminder that level and tone often go hand-in-hand.

Making the Bass Heard (and Felt)

Love ’em or hate ’em, bass slides can add a cool character. Joel makes a point to ensure a bass slide in the track is audible, reminding the listener of the bass player’s performance. It’s about highlighting those moments of ear candy.

He also revisits the bass’s low-mid frequencies. The guitar tones had shifted to be a bit more scooped, so he adjusts the bass EQ to bring a little more of that low-mid energy back. The goal is to help the bass “gel” with the guitars while still maintaining clarity and punch. This is a classic balancing act in metal mixing.

Controlling a “Machine Gun” Double Bass

Death metal often features incredibly fast double bass sections. While awesome, these can sometimes get overwhelmingly loud simply due to the sheer density of hits. Joel mentions a neat trick: during these super-fast, “machine gunning” kick parts, he might automate the overall gain down by just half a dB. It’s a subtle move, but it can prevent those sections from becoming a sonic blur or unpleasantly jumping out in volume. This isn’t about squashing the drums with compression, but fine-tuning the overall level dynamically.

These kinds of detailed adjustments show that mixing isn’t just about broad strokes; it’s also about meticulous attention to how each part contributes to the whole. Getting these elements right is key to unlocking your sound and mixing modern metal beyond presets.

The Golden Rule: When is a Death Metal Mix “Done”?

After all the tweaks and adjustments, Joel touches on a crucial, almost philosophical point: knowing when to stop. He shares a simple yet profound piece of wisdom: “A song is done when it sounds like a song.”

It sounds obvious, right? But think about it. It’s easy to get lost in the weeds, endlessly nitpicking snare samples, tweaking a guitar EQ by a fraction of a dB, or obsessing over whether the bass filter is at 65Hz or 70Hz.

Joel’s point is that the average listener, your mom, your friend who isn’t a producer, doesn’t care about those microscopic details. They hit play, and they ask two things:

1. Is it a great song?
2. Does it sound good?

If the answer to both is “yes,” then who cares if you used one kick sample over another, or if a guitar has slightly “too much” 700Hz (a la wondering about Appetite for Destruction‘s guitar EQ)? The emotional impact and overall sonic quality are what truly matter.

Time to Get Feedback

At this stage, where the Cognizance mix “sounds like a song,” Joel would typically send it to the band. Why?

• Fresh Ears: You’ve been staring at the same sonic picture for hours. Fresh ears, especially the artists’, are invaluable.
• Artist Vision: They might have specific feedback or a different vision. Maybe they wanted a super tight Pantera-esque piccolo snare, and you went for something else. You won’t know until you ask.
• Avoid Over-Mixing: It’s easy to automate and tweak for another three hours on details that might not matter or could even be changed based on feedback.

Sending the mix out for feedback prevents you from going down a rabbit hole. The band could love it, or they could have notes. Either way, their input is crucial for the next steps.

Bringing It All Together with Nail The Mix

Mastering death metal, or any heavy genre, is a blend of technical skill and artistic judgment. From surgical EQ cuts on the master bus to finessing individual instrument levels and knowing when to step back and let the song speak for itself, every decision counts. Joel Wanasek’s approach with Cognizance highlights a practical, results-oriented workflow.

Want to see more of this in action? Imagine looking over the shoulder of producers like Joel, Joey Sturgis, or Eyal Levi as they mix killer tracks from bands like Gojira, Periphery, and Trivium from scratch. With Nail The Mix, you get exactly that. Each month, you receive the actual multi-tracks from a real metal song and watch the original producer mix it live, explaining every plugin, every fader move, and every creative choice. Plus, you get access to a massive library of tutorials and exclusive plugins. Stop guessing and start learning from the pros who define modern metal sound. Check out Nail The Mix and take your mixes to the next level.