Mixing Loathe’s Mega-Distorted Vocals: George Lever’s Method

Ever wrestled with getting those massively distorted vocals to sit right? You reach for saturation, throw it on a track, and suddenly you’re battling a harsh, fizzy nightmare, desperately carving with EQs to salvage it. We’ve all been there. But what if you could layer distortion and saturation to create incredible vocal textures that actually enhance the track without the mess? That’s exactly what producer George Lever (Sleep Token, Monuments) does with the unique and powerful vocals of Loathe. In a recent session, George broke down his approach to taming and shaping Loathe’s signature mega-distorted sound, and we’re diving into his key techniques.

If you’re looking to go deeper into how pros like George craft these sounds from scratch, you can check out his full Loathe mixing session on Nail The Mix.

Laying the Foundation: Vocal Bus Processing

Before even touching individual vocal tracks, George sets up a robust vocal bus chain. This ensures that all vocal elements, from whispers to screams, share a cohesive sonic character. Think of it as prepping the canvas before you start painting.

True Iron for Transformer Tone

First up on the acapella bus is Kazrog True Iron. This plugin isn’t about crazy effects; it emulates the sound of running audio through transformers.

• Why Transformers? Different transformers impart distinct tonal characteristics. Some might subtly roll off extreme highs and lows, while others add specific harmonic content or distortion that can give audio a sense of “weight” or “momentum.”
• George’s Approach: He mentions auditioning the various transformer voicings in True Iron on a finished mix, finding one that clicked, and essentially setting and forgetting it. For Loathe, this initial stage adds a foundational tonal color and subtle saturation that everything else will build upon.

Taming Harshness with Soothe2

Next in line is the indispensable oeksound Soothe2. If you’re dealing with distorted vocals, you know how quickly harsh frequencies can build up.

• Intelligent Resonance Suppression: Soothe2 dynamically identifies and reduces unwanted resonances and harshness without gutting the good stuff.
• George’s Setting: He uses a preset aptly named “Vocal harshness Ultra,” aiming for a couple of dB of reduction. This isn’t about drastic EQing; it’s about transparently smoothing out potential problem areas before they become overbearing, especially crucial when you’re about to add more layers of saturation.

Softube Tape for Character and Cohesion

The final piece of the main vocal bus puzzle is Softube’s Tape plugin. This isn’t just for a bit of analog warmth; it’s a powerful tonal shaper.

• Beyond Basic Saturation: George highlights its flexibility. You can tweak crosstalk, drive, tape type, and tape speed. These parameters can drastically alter the vocal’s top-end feel, introduce a mid-range push, or add a cohesive glue to the overall vocal performance.
• Subtle but Significant: While each element on the bus is relatively subtle, their combined effect creates a polished and controlled starting point for all the vocal tracks.

Dialing in Kadeem’s Screams: Distortion and Dynamics

With the bus processing in place, George moves on to Kadeem’s main screamed vocals. This is where the more aggressive shaping happens.

Mid-Range Push into an L1 Limiter

A key move for Kadeem’s primary scream track involves an upper mid-range EQ boost.

• The EQ-Limiter Dance: This EQ boost isn’t just for tone; it strategically feeds into a Waves L1 Limiter. Pushing specific frequencies into a limiter changes how the limiter reacts, helping the vocal cut through and maintain its aggression without becoming uncontrolled. For more on how EQ shapes your metal tracks, check out these EQ strategies for mixing modern metal.
• Low-End Control: Because distorted vocals can quickly get muddy, some low-end is also attenuated to keep things tight and focused, allowing the L1 to work more effectively on the desired frequency content.

The Loathe Vocal Placement Philosophy

An interesting insight George shares is Loathe’s preference for vocals to sit slightly down in the mix. This might go against some modern production trends where vocals are often hyper-forward, but it’s a crucial part of Loathe’s sonic identity. This means every processing choice is made with the goal of the vocals being impactful and clear, but integrated rather than sitting completely on top of the dense instrumentation.

Meeting the Effects: More Distortion for Dry Vocals

To make Kadeem’s dry vocal track blend seamlessly with the heavily processed effects sends and maintain that signature Loathe intensity, George doesn’t shy away from adding more distortion directly to the dry track. It’s all about layering and finding the right character of saturation at each stage. He’ll often keep another L1 Limiter at the end of this chain, pulled down to catch any unruly peaks.

Addressing Boxiness and Loudness

Throughout the process, George keeps an ear out for common vocal issues. He makes targeted EQ adjustments to tackle any “boxiness” (often found in the lower-mids) and carefully manages levels to ensure everything sits correctly, especially when different vocal sections or takes vary in loudness.

Adding Space with Delay

For certain phrases or sections, a timed delay adds depth and atmosphere. George mentions dialing in a quarter-note delay, a classic choice that can add rhythmic interest and space without cluttering the mix.

Elevating Chorus Vocals: Harmonies and Space

When it comes to the sung chorus vocals, the approach shifts slightly to accommodate melody and harmony.

Reverb and Compression for Sung Vocals

For a duplicate “dry” singing track in the chorus, George introduces reverb to create space and ambience.

• Taming Dynamics: These sung parts, even if layered, can be quite dynamic. He mentions that a particularly loud vocal take needed compression. The goal is to “grab it” and control the peaks, likely using aggressive settings on a compressor – cranking the ratio and threshold, with attack and release times set to clamp down on the loudest parts effectively. Getting compression right is key, and you can explore more in our metal compression secrets guide.
• Harmonies: Similar processing, including the reverb and compression, is often applied to harmony vocal tracks, adjusting levels to create a full and cohesive choral sound.

The Art of Layered Vocal Saturation

The big takeaway from George Lever’s approach to Loathe’s vocals is the power of staged saturation and distortion. Instead of relying on one plugin to do all the heavy lifting (which often leads to that harsh, uncontrollable sound), he uses multiple, often subtler, instances of saturation, distortion, and shaping tools at different points in the signal chain:

1. Bus Processing: Initial tone-shaping and control (True Iron, Soothe2, Tape).
2. Individual Track Processing: More aggressive distortion, EQ, and dynamic control tailored to the specific vocal (e.g., Kadeem’s screams).
3. Effects Sends: (Though not detailed as much in this clip) These would also contribute their own character of saturation and space.

This layered approach allows for a much richer, more complex, and ultimately more controlled distorted vocal sound that can sit powerfully within a dense metal mix. It’s about building the texture piece by piece.

Bring These Techniques to Your Mixes

George Lever’s techniques for Loathe’s vocals demonstrate a masterful understanding of how to use saturation and distortion creatively and effectively. By thinking in layers and understanding how each processor contributes to the overall sound, you can avoid the pitfalls of harshness and create truly unique vocal textures.

Want to see exactly how George Lever dials in these settings, balances the intricate vocal layers, and makes them sit perfectly in Loathe’s groundbreaking track “Aggressive Evolution”? Dive into the full mixing session, get the multitracks, and learn directly from the source with Nail The Mix. If you’re ready to move beyond presets and truly Unlock Your Sound in modern metal mixing, seeing pros work in real-time is invaluable.