Mixing Obscura’s “When Stars Collide”: Tackling 260BPM & Fretless Bass

The Sonic Onslaught: Obscura's "When Stars Collide"

First off, just listening to the raw session, you can tell this is going to be a fun, albeit incredibly difficult, mix. The musicianship is top-tier, and the song is written to showcase that. This isn't just about getting a heavy sound; it's about clarity, power, and letting every insane note shine through.

Guitars: Committed Tones and Mid-Range Battles

I'm a guitar player, so naturally, that's where we're starting. We've got four rhythm guitars, a couple of leads, and some face-melting solos.

No DIs? No Problem!

One of the first things that stands out is the absence of DI tracks. The producer committed to the amp tones, and honestly, that's a breath of fresh air. As mixers, our job is to take the sounds the band and producer loved and make them work in the context of a full mix. When you get DIs, you’re often tasked with re-amping or building tones from scratch, which can blur the lines between production and mixing. Here, the vision for the guitar sound is already laid out. Love it. The tones themselves are sick – everything sounds fantastic right out of the box.

The Mid-Range Challenge: Clean Guitars & Strings

Later in the track, some clean guitars with a chorus effect pop up. This is where things get interesting (and challenging!). These clean tones sit right in the mid-range, which is already going to be a busy area with distorted guitars and, as we'll see, a stack of vocals. On top of that, there are strings also occupying that precious mid-range real estate.

You're going to need to be strategic with your EQ strategies to make space for everything. Think surgical cuts, careful panning, and maybe even some dynamic EQ to help elements duck and weave around each other. This is where you really earn your mixing stripes – fitting all these mid-heavy parts together without it turning into a muddy mess.

Bass: The Fretless Beast at 260 BPM

Now, onto the bass. This is where things get really unique for a metal track. We're dealing with a fretless bass, and the player is absolutely ripping.

Fretless in Metal: A Unique Flavor

You don't often hear fretless bass in this style of music. It inherently has a much warmer sound and less attack than a fretted bass, especially at this tempo with all the "metal polka beats" and blast sections. The lack of frets means less "clack" and "clank," which can be crucial for cutting through dense guitars. However, the bassist's picking is incredibly strong, and the intonation is spot-on – a testament to their skill. This warm, smooth tone against hyper-aggressive music is a fascinating contrast and a serious mixing challenge.

Stereo Bass Trickery

There's another cool detail: a stereo bass track. This is a common trick, often seen in rock. You can slap a high-pass filter on it and use it to add some stereo spread to the attack or the higher frequencies of the bass. Some engineers achieve a similar effect with a chorus pedal on the bass – think of the classic XBS 90 symphonic preset. This "baked-in" stereo spread is a smart way to help the bass's top-end articulate, especially given the inherent smoothness of a fretless instrument. It’s going to be a wild ride getting this bass to sit right and punch through without sacrificing its unique character.

Drums: Orchestrating a Technical Metal Kit

If you thought the guitars and bass were intense, wait 'til you see the drum setup. We're talking a whopping 23 tracks of pure percussive power.

Kicks and Snares

The foundation sounds solid. We've got two kick samples, a kick in, and a kick room mic. For snares, there are two top mics and what appears to be a snare sample. The natural snare itself sounds pretty clean and great right off the bat.

Toms Galore!

This band clearly loves their toms – six of them, to be exact! They're all neatly stripped and silenced for you, which is a massive time-saver. Imagine setting up that kit live!

A Symphony of Cymbals

Here’s where it gets particularly interesting for overheads. Instead of a simple stereo pair, they've opted for four cymbal mics: a far pair and a center pair. With a kit this large (six toms, probably a gazillion cymbals), this approach makes a lot of sense. It allows for better capture of all the individual cymbals, especially splashes or stacks that might be positioned further out. You can pan these out (e.g., hard left, 40 left, 40 right, hard right) to create a wide, clear image and ensure every hit is audible.

We also have two dedicated ride cymbal spot mics, cleaned up nicely. And to top it off, specific spot mics for a splash and a stack. For a technical drummer with an arsenal like this, hearing those little accent cymbals is super important. It’s part of their performance and their art. Your job as a mixer is to make sure those details shine.

Room Ambience

To capture the overall kit sound, there are left and right room mics (which sound nicely compressed) and a mono room mic. Lots of options here to build a huge, impactful drum sound. The sheer number of drum tracks means a lot of your mixing time will likely be spent dialing these in, ensuring phase coherence, and getting the balance just right. Using subtle compression techniques on your drum bus can also help glue everything together.

Vocals: Layering Intensity

The vocal arrangement is relatively straightforward compared to the instrumental complexity, but still packs a punch.
We've got a main screaming vocal, which sounds like it might have some light compression already. Then there are some doubles and a duplicate of that double. Later in the song, another overdub comes in, tripled. Sprinkled in are a stack of clean vocals, adding another layer to that already busy mid-range.

The Overall Mixing Challenge: Showcasing Technicality

The biggest challenge with a track like "When Stars Collide" is the sheer technicality. The musicians are incredibly gifted, and the music is written to showcase that. The guitars, while shreddy, are fairly lean in terms of layering. The real heavy lifting in this mix will be taming that fretless bass and making it work with the absolutely massive and intricate drum kit, all while ensuring the vocals cut through and the guitars maintain their aggression.

Want to Mix Obscura "When Stars Collide" Yourself?

This Obscura session is a goldmine for any aspiring or established metal mixer. It's a chance to work with professionally recorded tracks from a top-tier band and tackle some truly unique mixing challenges.
If you’re ready to dive in and test your skills, you can get these exact multi-tracks by signing up for Nail The Mix. Imagine getting your hands on these files and seeing how Fredrik Nordström himself approached the mix!

Elevate Your Mixing Game with Nail The Mix

When you join Nail The Mix, you get more than just one song. This Obscura track (and a killer HammerFall track also mixed by Fredrik Nordström) were part of our February 2023 offering, but every month brings new songs and new learning opportunities.

Beyond the monthly multi-tracks, your subscription includes:

• Mix Lab: A massive library of bite-sized video tutorials on everything from EQ and compression to mastering and effects. Perfect for when you have a few minutes to pick up a new trick.
• Portfolio Builder: A collection of multi-tracks from various genres you can use to practice and build your professional portfolio.
• Enhanced Membership: For those who want to go even deeper, Nail The Mix Enhanced (just $1 to try for your first month at nailthemix.com/upgrade) unlocks our Fast Track library with over 170+ hours of deep-dive courses, Mix Rescues (where pros remix subscriber songs), and even one-on-one sessions with URM staff. If you're serious about mastering modern metal mixing and want to move beyond presets, exploring resources like our Unlock Your Sound course can be a game-changer.

Mixing a track like Obscura's "When Stars Collide" is an incredible challenge that will push your skills. So, fire up your DAW, grab these multi-tracks, and get ready to create something monstrous! Happy mixing!