Suicide Silence: Crafting Mitch Lucker’s Insane Vocal Attack

Let's face it, Mitch Lucker's vocals with Suicide Silence were legendary for their sheer brutality and in-your-face aggression. They hit hard, felt massive, and always sounded like one dude ready to unleash hell. Ever wondered how that kind of vocal intensity is captured and enhanced in the mix? While Mitch's raw performance was undeniably the core, some clever studio techniques can take that power to another level. We’re diving into some of the approaches used to shape such an iconic vocal sound, focusing on aggressive compression and a unique stereo widening trick that keeps things huge yet centered. These insights come straight from a session dedicated to mixing Suicide Silence, which you can explore further on Nail The Mix.

Laying the Groundwork: Aggressive Vocal Compression

When you're dealing with vocals as dynamic and aggressive as Mitch Lucker's, compression isn't just a tool; it's a weapon. The goal is to control the dynamics, add punch, and bring out that signature aggressive character.

The "Smashed to Pieces" Starting Point

Often, by the time extreme metal vocals hit the mix stage, they've already seen a fair bit of compression, sometimes to the point where the waveform looks more like a distorted guitar track than a natural vocal. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; it's part of the sound! This pre-existing heavy compression means you're already working with a fairly leveled and dense signal, but there's still room for refinement and character.

Adding More Bite: The LA-2A for Consonant Punch

Even with an already compressed vocal, adding another layer of specific compression can enhance certain qualities. A classic choice for this is a Teletronix LA-2A Leveling Amplifier (or a quality plugin emulation). Instead of just slapping it on for general leveling, the idea here is to use it strategically.

Sometimes, placing an LA-2A before other compressors in the chain, or as a distinct processing step, can help bring out the "snap" of consonants. Because of the LA-2A's relatively slower attack time compared to some other compressors, those hard 'T's, 'K's, and other percussive elements of the vocal can "pop" through before the compressor fully clamps down. This momentary burst of uncompressed (or less compressed) transient can add a significant amount of aggression and intelligibility, especially in a dense metal mix. It's about making those biting sounds really cut. For more on how compressors can shape your metal tracks, check out these metal compression secrets.

A Quick Note on Sibilance

With aggressive vocals and the processing involved, harsh "S" sounds (sibilance) can become a problem. While not detailed in this specific breakdown, it's understood that taming sibilance with a de-esser or precise EQ adjustments would be a necessary step later in the process to keep the vocal powerful but not painful.

Dialing in the "Evil": Enhancing Vocal Intensity

The philosophy behind mixing vocals like Mitch Lucker's is often about amplifying the inherent "evil" and aggression in the performance. It's about finding those ranges and moments where the intensity truly shines and pushing them forward. The aim is for an "everything in your face, all the time" kind of sound – relentless and powerful, reflecting the sheer force of the vocal delivery.

This means making mix decisions that constantly support and elevate that raw energy, ensuring the vocal commands attention and delivers maximum impact.

Smart Widening for a Singular, Massive Vocal

A mono vocal can sound powerful, but sometimes you want that extra width to make it feel even bigger. However, common stereo widening techniques can have downsides, like making the vocal sound like two separate singers or causing phase issues when collapsed to mono. Here’s a clever approach to get width while maintaining a cohesive, mono-compatible vocal.

The Problem with Standard Widening

Many stereo widening plugins or techniques (like hard-panned delays or artificial doublers) can create a cool stereo effect. But when the track is played in mono (which happens more often than you think – on club PAs, some streaming services, Bluetooth speakers, etc.), these effects can sometimes lead to a "nasty bathroom type sound" due to phase cancellation or comb filtering. Or, they can make the vocal sound thin or just… weird.

The TC 2290 Phase Inversion Trick

A particularly effective technique for widening involves using a delay with a specific phase characteristic, originally found in hardware like the TC Electronic 2290 Dynamic Digital Delay and now available in plugin emulations.

Here’s the setup:

1. Short Delay: Use a very short stereo delay, around 20 milliseconds.
2. Tiny Modulation: Add a very small amount of modulation to the delay time. This adds a bit of movement and prevents a static, chorus-like effect.
3. The Magic Button: The crucial part involves the output phase. On the original TC 2290 hardware (and replicated in some plugins), there's a way to make the unit output the delayed signal out of phase in stereo. This was achieved by ensuring both the "Delay" and "Direct" signal path lights were off.

Why is this phase inversion so good for this application?
When you send your mono vocal to this stereo effect, the left and right outputs of the effect are out of phase with each other.

• In Stereo: You hear the widened effect, giving the vocal "wider shoulders."
• In Mono: Because the left and right sides of the effect are out of phase, they largely cancel each other out when summed to mono. This leaves your original, clean mono vocal intact, without the weird artifacts that other stereo effects can introduce.

How It Sounds: Wider Shoulders, Not Two Singers

The beauty of this technique is that it still sounds like one vocalist. Unlike some doubling or pitch-shifting tricks that can make it sound like there are two distinct voices, this method maintains the integrity of a single, powerful performance, just making it feel broader and more encompassing in the stereo field. It adds a couple of dimensions to the sides without messing with the core idea of "one guy who still wants to kill you."

Caveats and Considerations

While powerful, this technique requires care:

• Level Setting: Be cautious when setting your vocal level with this effect engaged. If a significant portion of the perceived loudness comes from the stereo effect, the vocal might seem to drop in level or partially disappear when played in mono due to the cancellation.
• Out-of-Phase Weirdness: Listening to heavily out-of-phase material panned wide in stereo for long periods can be fatiguing and even a bit disorienting. Use it judiciously and always check your mix in mono.

Alternative: Super-Fast Slap/Ping Pong Delay

Another, simpler way to add some width or space without creating a distinct second voice is to use a very fast slap-back delay, perhaps a ping-pong delay set to a super-quick repeat. This can give a subtle sense of space and width, almost like an "Elvis" style vocal effect, but much more aggressive and tucked in for metal.

Organizing Your Mayhem: The Importance of Vocal Groups

A quick but important organizational tip: always route your main vocal track(s) to an auxiliary group (bus). Even if you don't initially put any processing on this group, it keeps your session tidy and makes it easy to apply processing to the entire vocal performance later on. This is standard practice for all instrument groups – rhythm guitars to their own bus, drums to theirs, and vocals to a dedicated vocal bus.

Bringing It All Together (And Taking the Deep Dive)

Crafting Mitch Lucker's iconic vocal sound, or any powerful metal vocal, involves a combination of:

• Starting with or creating an aggressively compressed vocal.
• Using additional compression like an LA-2A to enhance consonant punch and aggression.
• Employing smart stereo widening techniques, like the TC 2290 phase inversion trick, to achieve a massive sound that remains mono-compatible and focused.
• Always keeping an eye on sibilance and maintaining good session organization.

These are killer techniques you can start experimenting with in your own productions right now to make your metal vocals more impactful.

But imagine seeing these principles applied in real-time, on the actual multitracks of a massive song like one by Suicide Silence. That's exactly what Nail The Mix offers. Every month, you get to watch world-class producers mix songs from bands you love, from scratch, explaining every plugin choice, every fader move, and every creative decision. You get the raw multitracks to practice on yourself too! See how pros like the one in the Suicide Silence mixing session tackle these exact challenges. If you're ready to move beyond presets and truly unlock your sound in modern metal mixing, this is how you do it.