Using the SM7B Microphone for Brutal Metal Vocals & Guitars

If you’ve spent any time on YouTube or Twitch, you’ve seen the Shure SM7B. It’s the go-to mic for podcasters and streamers for a reason—its deep, radio-ready tone and insane background noise rejection are legendary. But for metal producers, the SM7B isn’t just for talking heads. It’s a straight-up workhorse, a secret weapon for capturing some of the most aggressive and polished sounds in modern metal.

Forget what you think you know about this mic. Let's dive into why the SM7B is an absolute must-have for tracking brutal vocals and massive guitars that can stand up to the insanely high production standards of today’s metal.

What Makes the SM7B a Metal Studio Staple?

At its core, the SM7B is a dynamic microphone, just like its little brother, the SM57. This means it’s built to handle extremely loud sources without breaking a sweat. You can shove it right in front of a screaming vocalist or a cranked Mesa Boogie cabinet, and it won’t flinch or turn your audio into a distorted mess.

Here’s the TL;DR on why it rocks for heavy music:

• Handles High SPL: It can take all the volume you can throw at it. Perfect for death metal growls, hardcore yells, and detuned 8-string chugs.
• Smooth Top End: Unlike many condenser mics that can get harsh and fizzy with distorted sources, the SM7B has a naturally smooth high-frequency response. It tames the ice-pick harshness before you even touch an EQ.
• Excellent Off-Axis Rejection: The mic is designed to only pick up what’s directly in front of it. This is a lifesaver in an untreated bedroom studio, minimizing room reflections and bleed from other instruments.
• Built-in Pop Filter/Windscreen: That big foam cover isn’t just for looks. It does a fantastic job of taming plosives (those hard ‘p’ and ‘b’ sounds), which are a nightmare with aggressive vocal performances.

Nailing Modern Metal Vocals with the Shure SM7B

Why It Crushes Condensers for Screams

Condenser mics are awesome and have their place, but they can be a liability with extreme vocals. Their sensitivity can pick up too much room sound and accentuate the nasty, fizzy frequencies in a scream, forcing you to do tons of surgical EQ later.

The SM7B does the opposite. It naturally focuses the vocal, captures the raw power and midrange aggression of the scream, and smooths out the top-end harshness. The result is a vocal track that sounds fuller, requires less corrective processing, and sits in the mix much more easily.

The Right Setup: Mic Placement and Preamps

The SM7B is a notoriously gain-hungry mic. This means you need a preamp that can provide a lot of clean gain to get a healthy signal level. Your stock interface preamp might struggle, introducing noise when you crank it. That’s why you’ll almost always see an SM7B paired with an in-line preamp like a Cloudlifter CL-1 or a FetHead. These devices use phantom power from your interface to add about +25dB of clean, transparent gain before the signal even hits your main preamp.

For placement, get the vocalist to sing directly into the end of the mic, almost touching the grille. This maximizes the proximity effect, giving you that thick, authoritative low-end that makes a metal vocal sound huge.

A Killer Vocal Chain for SM7B Screams

Once you’ve got a solid take, it’s time to process it. Here’s a go-to plugin chain that works wonders on SM7B vocal tracks.

Surgical EQ

Start with an EQ to clean things up. A good visual EQ like the FabFilter Pro-Q 3 is perfect for this.

1. High-Pass Filter: Immediately cut everything below 80-120Hz. The proximity effect gives you plenty of lows; you need to clear out the sub-rumble to make space for the kick and bass.
2. Cut the Mud/Boxiness: Find the gross-sounding buildup in the 300-500Hz range and pull it down with a moderately wide Q. This cleans up the vocal and lets the guitars shine through.
3. Boost Presence & Clarity: Add a wide boost somewhere between 2kHz and 5kHz to help the vocal cut through the wall of guitars. This is where the consonants and aggression live.

For more on shaping tones with precision, check out our guide on EQing modern metal guitars for max impact, as many of the same surgical principles apply.

Double-Barrel Compression

Don't rely on one compressor to do all the work. Use two in a series for more transparent and powerful dynamic control.

1. Fast Peak Tamer: First, use a fast FET-style compressor like the Slate Digital FG-116 or Arturia's Comp FET-76. Set a fast attack and release with a high ratio (8:1 or 12:1) to just catch the loudest peaks of the screams, shaving off 3-6dB.
2. Overall Smoother: Follow it with an optical-style compressor like the Waves CLA-2A or IK Multimedia's White 2A. This compressor has a slower, more musical reaction and will smooth out the overall performance, gluing it all together. Aim for another 2-4dB of gain reduction here.

This one-two punch gives you an aggressive, controlled vocal that still feels dynamic. To truly understand how the pros wrestle dynamics into submission, check out our guide on using an audio compressor for metal.

Adding Grit with Parallel Distortion

Sometimes, a clean and compressed vocal still isn't aggressive enough. Send your vocal track to an aux bus and slap a saturation plugin like Soundtoys Decapitator or FabFilter Saturn 2 on it. Distort it heavily, then blend that distorted signal back in underneath the main vocal track. This adds harmonics and texture that help the vocal slice through the mix without making it sound overtly distorted.

Getting Aggressive Guitar Tones with the SM7B

Moving Beyond the SM57

The SM57's signature midrange bite is classic for a reason. However, the SM7B offers a different flavor. It tends to have a bit more body in the low-mids and a smoother, less hyped top end. When you’re dealing with 8-string guitars tuned to F#, that extra low-mid weight can be exactly what you need to capture the fundamental "thump" of your tone without it sounding thin.

Mic Blending Recipes for Max Impact

The real magic happens when you start blending the SM7B with another mic. This gives you the best of both worlds and allows you to craft a custom tone that’s perfect for your mix.

SM7B + SM57: The Power Couple

This is a monster combo. Place both mics right next to each other, pointing at the same spot on the speaker cone (a great starting point is where the dust cap meets the cone).

• The SM7B provides the "beef": It captures the weight, body, and low-mid thickness.
• The SM57 provides the "bite": It adds that classic upper-midrange aggression and attack.

Pan the two tracks slightly apart (e.g., 10L and 10R) and blend them to taste. You’ll get a tone that’s simultaneously massive and clear.

SM7B + Royer R-121: Warmth and Weight

For a darker, thicker, and warmer tone, pair the SM7B with a ribbon mic like the Royer R-121. The ribbon will add a huge, warm low-end and a super-smooth top end. The SM7B will provide the midrange focus and punch that the ribbon might lack on its own. This combo is amazing for sludgy, doomy, or rhythm-heavy styles.

The Ultimate Learning Experience

Knowing which mic to use and how to process it is a huge part of modern metal production. The SM7B is an incredibly powerful and versatile tool that can elevate your recordings from demo quality to pro-level polish.

But what if you could watch the producers behind bands like Gojira, Lamb of God, and Periphery use these exact tools and techniques in a real session?

That’s what Nail The Mix is all about. We put you in the virtual studio with the best producers in the game. You get the raw multi-tracks from a massive metal song and get to watch the original producer mix it from scratch, explaining every plugin, every EQ move, and every decision along the way. Check out our massive catalog of past Nail The Mix sessions and see for yourself how guys from our list of world-class instructors build these legendary sounds. It’s the single best way to level up your production game.