Mixing In Flames Vocals: Joe Rickard’s Bright & Aggressive Method

Anders Fridén’s vocals with In Flames? Absolutely iconic. They’re aggressive, they cut through a dense metal mix, and they carry an immense amount of energy. Ever wondered how to get that kind of powerful, polished, yet gritty vocal sound in your own productions? We got a look into Joe Rickard’s session, and he spilled the beans on his approach to mixing these legendary vocals. Forget overly complex signal chains; it’s about smart, targeted processing.

Joe’s philosophy for these vocals is all about achieving a sound that’s "crispy, pretty bright, and really compressed," but without it becoming harsh or unlistenable. It’s a fine line to walk, but his techniques make it happen. Let’s dive into how he crafts that signature In Flames vocal attack. And hey, if you want to see how pros like Joe tackle these challenges from start to finish on actual multitracks, Nail The Mix is where it's at.

Taming Sibilance: The De-Essing Foundation

One of the first things Joe addresses is sibilance. When you’re aiming for bright, aggressive vocals, those "s" and "t" sounds can easily become piercing.

Front-End De-essing: Getting Crispy Without the Harshness

Right at the start of his vocal chain, Joe often uses a de-esser. This initial pass helps control any immediate harshness, especially since the goal is a bright top end. Sometimes, he’ll even do a bit of surgical EQ before this first de-esser, ducking out a specific problematic frequency he doesn’t like – for example, if something around 2.3kHz is bugging him on a particular vocal. This pre-emptive strike cleans things up before the main processing even begins.

End-of-Chain De-essing: The Final Polish

But he doesn’t stop there. After all the EQ, compression, and other goodness, Joe often adds another de-esser (like the FabFilter Pro-MB) at the very end of the chain. This final touch catches any sibilance that might have been accentuated by the preceding plugins, ensuring the vocal stays smooth and listenable, even with all that aggressive processing.

Strategic Bussing for Cohesive Power

A core part of Joe’s workflow involves smart vocal bussing. Instead of processing every lead vocal track and its double separately, he routes them strategically.

Why Bus Your Lead Vocals and Doubles?

All lead vocals for different song sections (like verse, pre-chorus, and chorus) and their corresponding doubles get sent to dedicated vocal buses. For instance, a lead verse vocal and its double will both feed the "VOC Verse" bus. The magic here is that both tracks hit the same compressor on the bus. This makes them "compress together," creating a much tighter, more unified, and ultimately bigger sound. As Joe puts it, the point of a double is to make the vocal larger than life, and bussing them this way ensures they work together, not as separate entities. This is a fantastic way to get more impact from your vocals; learn more about how to use compression effectively in metal mixes.

Dialing in the Aggression: Core Vocal Tone Shaping

With the foundational elements in place, it's time to build the core tone.

The Howard Benson Vocals Plugin: Your First Stop for Punch

For the aggressive verse vocals, Joe leans on the Howard Benson Vocals plugin. Here’s a peek at his settings:

• EQ: A healthy +3dB high shelf boost way up at 25kHz, with a wide Q (around 3.621). This adds that top-end "air" and brightness.
• Compression: He drives the compressor pretty hard on this plugin, often with the level all the way up and the "Limit" button engaged for maximum control and smack.
  He keeps this plugin clean of internal effects, preferring to use dedicated sends for reverbs and delays, which offers more flexibility.

Giving Doubles Their Own Space (While Keeping Them Glued)

Doubles get special treatment to add color and width without clashing with the lead. A cool trick Joe uses is adding some distortion just to the double – using something with "crunch" and "crush" settings to slam it a bit. Importantly, this distortion is placed before its de-esser so the sibilance doesn't get overly exaggerated.

When it comes to the Howard Benson Vocals plugin on the double, the EQ settings might be similar to the lead, but the compression is backed off – maybe almost halfway down compared to the lead's maxed-out setting. This gives the double its own slightly different character while still allowing it to blend seamlessly with the lead on the shared bus.

The Unsung Hero: Ruthless Breath Management

This is a massive one, folks. Heavy compression, which is key to this vocal sound, will make breaths incredibly loud and distracting.
Joe learned from the best (Howard Benson himself) that most of the time, loud breaths sound like mistakes. They pull the listener out of the song. The solution? Get rid of them, or at least drastically reduce them.

Here’s the drill:

• Lead Vocal Breaths: Only keep a breath on the main lead vocal if it genuinely adds to the emotion of the part. Otherwise, clip gain it way down or chop it out.
• Doubles & Backing Vocals: Zero breaths. Seriously. Joe emphasizes that you don't want multiple breaths stacking up (imagine four breaths hitting at once on a doubled part – yikes!).
  He often cleans up all breaths on doubles before even starting any tuning work with tools like Melodyne. This meticulous cleanup allows for much more aggressive compression without the nightmare of cannon-fire breaths. It just sounds cleaner, bigger, and better.

Crafting the Vocal Bus Chain: Layering for Impact

Once the individual tracks are treated and sent to the bus, the bus itself gets a chain of processing to further shape and glue the vocals. This is where you can really carve out space and add presence with smart EQ strategies.

Adding Character with the Neve 1081 EQ (UAD)

Joe likes using a UAD Neve 1081 emulation. He’s not making huge moves here; just a small bump around 3.3kHz for presence and a touch at 220Hz for a little body. He notes that the plugin itself adds a nice "tone" even with minimal EQ changes.

Sculpting with the Maag EQ4: Air and Clarity

Next up, the Maag EQ4 is a favorite for its famous "Air Band." Joe will often use the 10kHz or 20kHz Air Band to add that silky top-end sheen, which is especially nice after the initial de-essing. He might also use it to notch out a bit at 2.5kHz for more cut, gently scoop some 650Hz, and clean up a little in the sub-bass area.

The SSL E-Channel: Final Smack and Polish

A workhorse for a reason! Joe calls the SSL E-Channel (or similar emulations) one of his favorite vocal plugins. He uses it for significant compression on the bus. This stage really "ties it all together," makes the vocals aggressive, and helps them sit perfectly in a dense mix. If you don't have an SSL, other aggressive compressors like an R-Channel can achieve a similar smack.

Creating Depth and Space: Vocal Effects Sends

To give the vocals life and place them in a space, Joe uses a combination of reverbs and delays on auxiliary sends.

Reverb Layers for Dimension

He’s a fan of using a couple of different reverbs. The Softube RC24 is one choice for adding a "nice sound" and "a little bit of life." He also employs ValhallaVerb, layering reverbs to create a rich, immersive space.

Delay for Rhythm and Width

For rhythmic effects and width, an H-Delay set to an eighth-note ping pong is a common go-to. He also uses the Imperial Delay for a different flavor – perhaps a half-note delay that’s wide and in-sync but not ping-ponging, which he describes as a "cool sound" and a "good little trick."

Nailing That In Flames Vocal Sound: The Big Picture

Joe Rickard’s approach to mixing In Flames vocals is a masterclass in controlled aggression. It’s about:

• Starting Clean: Aggressive de-essing and meticulous breath removal.
• Smart Bussing: Unifying lead and double vocals for a bigger, tighter sound.
• Layered Processing: Using specific plugins like the Howard Benson Vocals, Neve 1081, Maag EQ4, and SSL E-Channel for targeted tone shaping and compression.
• Tasteful Effects: Creating depth and dimension with multiple reverbs and delays.

The result is a vocal that's bright, incredibly punchy, and sits right in your face, all while maintaining clarity and avoiding harshness. These techniques are powerful, and you can start applying them to your own metal mixes today.

Want to see Joe Rickard himself apply these techniques and mix an In Flames track from scratch, explaining every single decision along the way? You can dive deep into his entire process with the In Flames 'Meet Your Maker' session on Nail The Mix. Imagine having access to the multitracks and watching the original producer craft that sound – that’s what Nail The Mix delivers every month.

Ready to take your metal mixes beyond presets and truly understand how the pros work? Check out our comprehensive guide, "Unlock Your Sound: Mixing Modern Metal Beyond Presets," and join the Nail The Mix community to learn from the best in the business.