Left To Suffer: “Faking It” for Killer Modern Metal Vocals

Ever listen to a modern metal track, like something from Left To Suffer, and wonder how those vocals get so massive, clear, and aggressive? It’s a sound that often feels less like a dude screaming in a room and more like a perfectly sculpted weapon. According to Matt Thomas, who mixed Left To Suffer for a session on Nail The Mix, a lot of it comes down to a shift in mindset: treating modern metal production almost like making beats.

Forget the romantic notion of a band perfectly capturing a live performance in one take. Today’s heavy hitters, from Architects to Bring Me The Horizon, often feature productions so dialed and tight, they’re essentially “metal genre beats.” This isn’t a knock; it’s a production style that allows for insane precision and creative freedom. Let’s dive into how Matt Thomas applies this thinking to craft those brutal Left To Suffer vocals.

The “Metal Beat” Mentality: More Than Just a Band

Matt points out that unless you’re specifically aiming for that raw, “band in a room” vibe (think Gojira, who he cites as a true “band band”), you’re often dealing with something far more constructed. This “beat” approach means:

• Piece-by-Piece Construction: Elements are recorded and edited meticulously, often quantized heavily.
• Vocal Perfection: Just like in pop, breaths might be edited, pasted in strategically, or removed entirely for maximum impact, especially leading into heavy screams.
• Hyperreality: The goal isn’t necessarily “realism” but a larger-than-life, polished sound.

Embracing this “beat-making” philosophy means you can break traditional rules and get seriously creative. It’s less about capturing reality and more about crafting it. If you’re looking to dive deeper into this modern metal mindset, understanding concepts beyond basic presets is key, something explored in resources like Unlock Your Sound: Mixing Modern Metal Beyond Presets.

Crafting Left To Suffer’s Lead Vocal Chain

With this philosophy in mind, let’s break down Matt’s vocal processing workflow for Left To Suffer. He starts by grouping all lead vocals to ensure they get a consistent processed sound.

Initial Vocal Grouping & Taming Dynamics

Once grouped, the first step is often getting the dynamics in check.

Strategic Compression

Matt uses a neat trick: he’ll dial in his compressor and then use the mix/blend knob to bring the compressed signal back to around 50-60%. This parallel compression approach helps find that sweet spot where the vocal is controlled but still breathes. It’s a fantastic way to get punch without squashing the life out of a performance. For more on taming aggressive metal tracks, check out these metal compression secrets.

Surgical EQ for Clarity and Modernity

Next up, EQ. The goal here is to make the vocals sound modern, crispy, and sit perfectly with the instruments.

Cutting Mud & Room Tone

The first move is often to carve out unwanted muddiness and any dry room tone. This immediately helps the vocal step forward and sound more polished.

Taming Harshness (2kHz & Dynamic EQ)

Matt identifies a specific harshness around the 2kHz mark. Instead of a static cut, he often opts for a dynamic EQ. Why? Because that harshness isn’t always there. A dynamic EQ will only kick in when the problematic frequency pokes out, keeping the vocal sounding natural when it’s not an issue. Dive deeper into EQ strategies with these core EQ strategies for mixing modern metal.

Preemptive De-Essing for High-End Shine

Before boosting any high-end, Matt gets aggressive with a de-esser. He’s looking for a lot of reduction because he knows he’ll be adding top-end later. This preemptive strike ensures that when the highs are boosted, the sibilance doesn’t become a piercing nightmare.

Boosting & Saturating with Specter: The “Enhance First” Method

Initially considering a CLA-style plugin for high-end boost, Matt pivots to Specter (likely Wavesfactory Specter, though the concept applies to similar enhancers). He shares a killer tip he learned: instead of immediately reaching for EQs to cut problematic frequencies (like mud), try using an enhancer like Specter to boost what you feel is missing from the source tone first – be it lows, highs, or clarity.

The idea is that by enhancing the good stuff, you sometimes negate the need for surgical cuts. Plus, Specter is adding saturation, not just level, which contributes to character and perceived loudness without just cranking the fader. For the Left To Suffer vocals, he uses Specter to bring out that desired high-end shimmer after the de-essing stage.

Breath Control: When to Cut and When to Keep

Vocal breaths can add realism, but sometimes they’re just distracting. Matt will often cut out breaths, especially if they audibly lead into a line too early or clash with the end of a previous phrase. As the mixing engineer, if a breath is bugging your mix, get rid of it!

Adding Aggression: “Synthetic” Saturation

To push the vocals into more extreme territory, Matt employs what he calls “synthetic saturation” – an unnatural, almost “air distortion” type of sound. Crucially, he applies this on the individual vocal tracks, not the main vocal bus. This ensures that when multiple vocal layers kick in, they maintain their individual aggression without turning the bus into a distorted mess.

Thickening the Sound: Dialing in Vocal Doubles

Vocal doubles are a staple in metal for adding width and power. Matt emphasizes the importance of well-performed doubles – they need to be tight in timing and consistent in intensity with the lead vocal. A 5dB difference in level between the lead and doubles can be a good starting point, but the main goal is to achieve that thick, layered sound.

Unifying the Vocals: Bus Processing Power

With lead vocals, doubles, and potentially other layers all processed, the next step is to make them feel like a single, cohesive unit.

Vocal Bus Glue: Creating a Cohesive Unit

Matt uses “vocal bus glue” – likely a bus compressor or a dedicated vocal processing plugin – on the main vocal bus. This helps all the different vocal elements sit together. He cautions that knobs labeled “tone” or “aggro” on such plugins can be powerful, so use them judiciously and blend with the mix knob if needed. The goal is to treat the entire vocal performance as one entity for further effects like reverb and delay.

Final Polish with Decapitator

For a final touch of character and aggression, Matt reaches for Soundtoys Decapitator. He’s a fan of the “E style” curve on this plugin, which adds a very present and distinct saturation that you can hear in many of his recent mixes.

Beyond the Beat: Applying These Techniques in Your Mixes

The techniques Matt Thomas uses on Left To Suffer’s vocals showcase a modern, aggressive, and highly detailed approach to metal production. From the “beat-making” mindset to specific plugin choices like Specter and Decapitator, and surgical EQ moves, it’s all about crafting a sound that’s undeniably powerful.

Want to see exactly how Matt dials in these settings, makes these decisions, and builds a monstrous vocal sound from the ground up? You can watch him mix Left To Suffer’s track “Nightmare” in its entirety on Nail The Mix. Seeing a pro work through these steps in real-time, explaining their thought process, is one of the best ways to level up your own productions.

If you’re ready to transform your metal mixes and learn from the best in the business, explore what Nail The Mix has to offer. It’s more than just tutorials; it’s about getting your hands on real multitracks and seeing how chart-topping metal is made.