This project is a EP of original tracks taking inspiration from the styles of Modern Metalcore and Nu Metal. (See appendix 1) The aim was to create an EP filled with release ready tracks which I could use to sell to artists who are gaining popularity. The majority of recordings were captured using MIDI inside of the DAW or recorded via Di using plug ins such as Amplitube 5 and GGD’s drum VST, with mostly vocals being captured inside of the studio.

According to Nailthemix.com the majority of modern metal, including artists such as Periphery and Spiritbox, are now using Amp Sims such as Neural DSP, and many are also using programmed drums (GGD.com) This justifies my decision to use VST’s as it is more stylistically accurate and gives me more creative freedom. Rather than being limited to the Amps we have here at the Conservatoire I have access to countless accurate simulations of amps used in many modern albums, such as the Peavey 5150, (JamieSlays, 2026)

Project Management/Planning

Initial Planning

• Began writing songs in October
• Completed project proposal
• Created a Gannt chart which lays out the the project. (Appendix 2)

From research I discovered that the majority of my references were about one of three things:

• Mental Health
• Relationships
• Anti-Capitalist/Left wing politics.

I used this information whilst writing to ensure my tracks stayed fitting within the aimed genres and made writing lyrics (Appendix 3) easier.

Track 1 – Sweet Relief

Track 2 – Play Clean

Track 3 – Divide and Conquer

Track 4 – Broken Lovers

Track 5 – Poisoned Tears

Track 6 – Reflection of Us

Track 7 – Kitty

Project Progression

Throughout this project I had weekly 1-1’s with producer Dan Broad who gave me tips on what to add to tracks, ensure the project was progressing and feedback on final mixes (appendix 4)

Monthly Diary (Appendix 6)

Track Analysis

An overview of all equipment used in this project can be seen in Appendix 7:

Track 1 – Sweet Relief

Inspiration: Like A Villain – Bad Omens, Paracite Eve – Bring Me The Horizon

Aims: Create a holy post-apocolyptic type sound centering around the lyrical idea that you know death is coming and hoping it comes peacefully. I took the idea of sampling a pre-existing song from Bring Me The Horizon, who sample the song Erghen Diado (whosampled.com, 2026) in their track Parasite Eve to help create an eery atmosphere within the intro.

Notable Production Technique – To enphasise the religious connotations in this song, I used a wet plate reverb on the backing vocals and the lead parts of the chorus vocals to create an angelic type tone onto the vocals. This directly contrasts the dry distorted rhythm guitars, which helps keep the song punchy and stylistically accurate whilst creating the feeling of a religious doomsday.

No Reverb:

With Reverb:

In Context:

Track 2 – Play Clean

Written during my time in Midnight Calling with Rowan Scourfield writing the main guitar riffs and Hetsi Harpur writing lyrics. It focuses on maintaining high energy with the halftime breakdown at the end of the track being a main highlight

Main inspiration: The American Machine by Hot Milk

Production Highlight: On the vocals for this track I used UAD’s verve analogue machines plug in to create the sound of analogue distortion This is used on a parallel track for the lead vocals and heavily in the backing vocals to add some grit to the track and add some more interest throughout the track. It also helped me replicate the gritty vocals which can be seen throughout Hot Milk’s track

Mixing this track was difficult at times, as with this style of music theres a lot of low end especially in the low mids and this can be seen especially in the guitars as I feel like I may have taken too much out of the low mids in order for the bass to sit comfortably in the track.

Track 3 – Divide and Conquer

Wrote in February this is about the ICE riots happening at the time in America and is a reflection on the current state of politics in both the UK and US.

Inspiration: classic Nu-metal such as Rage against the Machine and Limp Bizkit whilst also taking parts from Hot Milk’s The American Machine

I wanted this to sound as big as possible, so I tried to replicate Phil Specter’s Wall of Sound technique (Nathanfieldsmusic.com,2025) by using multiple layers to build up a huge sound. In total there are 8 guitar tracks, which are all EQ’d slightly differently, 2 Bass tracks, one Di one Amped to create a clean and a muddy track which can be blended to create a bigger sound, and double tracked vocals throughout.

Track 4 – Broken Lovers

The last track to be finished which resulted in a vocal take I’m not completely happy with. After trialing a few different vocalists for this track I couldn’t find any which fitted the style of the track which resulted in me having to sing on it using an Sm7b.

Inspired by tracks by Cassyette such as Like That, it leans into the lighter side of Modern Metalcore and Nu-metal. Cassyette uses a lot of garage type synths and sub heavy 808 bases within her music especially during verses so i attempted to replicate that.

The thing I struggled most in this track was getting levels sat right. Because the first verse is so simplistic it doesn’t have many layers to fill space so I found quite often that vocals would sit too high and then consequently wouldn’t sound like they were one even level throughout the track. I also believe that the vocals could be better in this track If I could have found a better vocalist to perform the track. Originally I was going to work with a vocalist called Alex but I didn’t like the way he sounded on the track so consequently I had to perform vocals which I’m not the most experienced with.

Track 5 – Poison Tears.

Reference Track: Doomed – Bring Me The Horizon

The goal for this track was to write and produce something outside of my comfort zone by focusing on using samples and synths for the majority of the track rather than a guitar based lead.

I took the idea of turning samples into a rhythmic pattern that would replicate a drum kit in the first verses from the Bring Me The Horizon track and wanted a very abrupt change in the chorus as going from soft electronic synths to heavy distorted guitars, it emphesises the shock value of the song and keeps it more interesting. This is also why I chose to use an 808 bass and hi hat in the build up to the breakdown, then switched to a live kit the textural change brings more punch into the song and keeps interest higher.

Track 6 – Reflection of Us

Inspiration: Horror Show – Hot Milk, Break Stuff – Limp Bizkit, Just Pretend – Bad Omens

Another track on the softer end of the genre, for this I wanted to blend the shifts in energy between the verses in Horror Show, the heaviness of Break Stuff and the pop style chorus and structure seen in Just Pretend

One thing that makes Break Stuff feel so heavy is how punchy the bass is. To replicate this I did the following:

• Use a bass tuned to B to ensure it adds to the low end of the guitars
• Recorded both a DI and a re-amped signal which was captured using an Audix D6
• Heavily compressed, limited and parallel compressed the bass signals

Doing this allowed me to have control over how much click and how much sub bled through into the mix, allowing for a more well rounded bass tone, and ensure the bass punches through in the mix and helps carry the energy throughout the track

No compression in Context:

Compression In Context:

Bass Uncompressed Isolated:

Bass Compressed Isolated:

Track 7 – Kitty

This is the second track wrote with my former band Midnight Calling. Originally wrote in the style of the band Kittie its is a high energy, in your face Nu-metal track

Inspirations: Kittie, Break Stuff – Limp Bizkit, BYOB – System of a Down

Notable Production Technique: Use of two drum VST’s allowed me to blend two sample catalogues creating a huge sounding drum kit which fills a lot of empty space within this mix (Sample Enhancement)

Drum Kit 1 – MODO Drums:

Drum Kit 2 : GGD One Kit Wonder: Nu Metal

Together:

In Context:

Mastering

I conducted research on LUFS levels whilst mixing these tracks using a Loudness meter on Logic which can be seen below in Appendix 4. However after discussing this with Dan, we came to the conclusion that It could be too risky mastering tracks that loud due to the amount of processing needed to get them to that level, so to ensure I didn’t ruin any of my mixes we decided to master at -14 LUFS which is the level Spotify normalise tracks at (Spotify.com)

Overall Analysis

If I had the opportunity to do this project again, I would attempt to work with a singular vocalist or band to get each tracks sounding like they belong to a singular artist. One challenge I faced during this assignement was sourcing singers who would fit the track stylistically which resulted in me having to sing on two tracks. In total I had 4 vocalists within this portfolio and it would have sounded more consistent if instead I was working with one.

If I also had more time on this portfolio, I could have expanded on tracks such as Broken Lovers and Play Clean allowing them to sound bigger and more interesting as I could have wrote more background elements for within the track.

Appendecies

Appendix 1:

Appendix 2:

Appendix 3 – Lyrics

Appendix 4

Appendix 5

Appendix 6

Appendix 7

Bibliography

Nailthemixstaff, (2025) Amp Sim FAQs: Your Guide to Modern Metal Tones, Nailthemix.com, https://www.nailthemix.com/amp-sim-faqs?srsltid=AfmBOopVi4pvMPUoIeufjriSVqmN9yCa832SJXVCdY_UbPrX5KISx8PL

GGD, (2026) One Kit Wonder: Nu Metal, Getgooddrums.com, https://ggd.co/products/one-kit-wonder-nu-metal

Slays Jamie, (2025), How the Peavey 5150 Changed Metal Forever (The Untold Story), Youtube.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEbWaYdeFP0

Bad Omens (2022), Like A Villain, Spotify.com, https://open.spotify.com/track/7h2EZbGSzzIGgAFzJXHz99?si=cc8ca813ce694e49

Bring Me The Horizon, (2020) Paracite Eve, Spotify.com https://open.spotify.com/track/36xBFaVGjqm7le8CTHytUj?si=b5605fdb454e4022

Unknown, (2026) Parasite Eve, Whosampledwho.com, https://www.whosampled.com/Bring-Me-the-Horizon/Parasite-Eve/

Hot Milk (2025) The American Machine, Spotify.com, https://open.spotify.com/track/4r7hUkWigSOv12kU7pWggA?si=7161491332bd4fd6

Cassyette, (2023) Like That, Spotify.com, https://open.spotify.com/track/2SpphQibJfkN9GY5nuzlof?si=aa95358dbf9642e4

Bring Me The Horizon (2015), Doomed, Spotify.com, https://open.spotify.com/track/3lPn81PFyKvXiyHhlkwkQ4?si=028f8e17a2cf40af

Hot Milk (2023) HORROR SHOW, Spotify.com, https://open.spotify.com/track/35fDbsMOUn0P9FexHQNG4t?si=915ceeb3ece64dbb

Limp Bizkit, (1999) Break Stuff, Spotify.com, https://open.spotify.com/track/35fDbsMOUn0P9FexHQNG4t?si=915ceeb3ece64dbb

Bad Omens, (2022) Just Pretend, Spotify.com, https://open.spotify.com/track/31rneVrsMC6jefCoDyQKam?si=df7123230f994bf2

System of a Down, (2005), BYOB, Spotify.com, https://open.spotify.com/track/0EYOdF5FCkgOJJla8DI2Md?si=81d3530e28704e61

Kittie, (2026), Kittie, Spotify.com, https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ImEDe9tW5n4pxHOK39zIc?si=N-5K31bBSIKEaVj7Xl7ULQ

Spotify, (2026) Loudness Normalisation on Spotify, Spotify.com, https://support.spotify.com/us/artists/article/loudness-normalization/