I appreciate good production, but I still find myself listening to bands like Slayer, Megadeth, Metallica, old Arch Enemy, Motorhead, Death, etc, more often than some bands that have good production but zero feel.
I really dislike Pantera's production, which may seem a bit odd, but it's where the whole clicky drums trend started off with those coins stuck to the front of a drum beater.
I think it's the formulaic aspect of the music, as others have touched upon, though I'd say it's more the music than the production. It all feels like the beaten path has been marched on by a thousand bands now, with none looking to stray off that course and use a machete to carve something new and innovative.
Also, just look at some of the bands I've mentioned and their discography. They've put out at least three or four albums that are all killer, no filler. I miss those days, but nowadays artists are all looking for that one song that'll get a 100 million views rather than a good album, and that approach essentially is leading to the death of albums as we know it.
Here's a nice song, about 5 years old. I'd consider it a good example of the kind of music I'd like to hear (especially given the "meaningful" lyrics).
Really liked this album, I'm hoping they come back soon with new stuff.
I've already said it but I just don't get the fuss about production. Drums are one thing, we could certainly take a step back from the overly hyped drums with hit replacements for everything. Even there though, the better examples of this are using samples of the tracking kit and replacing the hits with idealized samples of that kit.
The guitars and bass though.... I would say those sounds are about as varied as they ever were in the 80s. With guitars in particular, there are certain limitations to what the tone can even be when it comes to keeping things from turning into mud. I keep seeing this reference to "drop Z" but even in drop C, which isn't especially low, you need to take steps to keep things tight.
I guess my frustration is I get the sense that if I posted a River of Nihil song, a Psycroptic song, and a Soreption song, all bands that I think are doing cool music and all sound different, the critique would be the same. At a certain point, a music form is matured to the point that there are standard trappings. There is some advantage to this - at the point where tones and production are standard issue, then it comes down to performance and composition to set you apart.
Another consideration is the time frame involved with cutting a record now, and the (non existent) budget. If you aren't recording at home, in which case you are almost certainly beholden to the tricks of the trade as you can only afford so much experimentation in a home studio environment without spending huge sacks of cash, you are going to have a very expedited studio experience compared to the metal bands of old. No band is getting huge cash advances from record companies, if they are getting any funding at ALL. More than likely, the record is self-funded or crowd-funded, and just to get a decent mix is going to cost about $5k for an LP. With that in mind, you either track at home to save money, or you go to a studio and try to finish as quickly as possible to save on cost.
All of this is pointing towards the fact that standardized solutions are required to even get a record done and sounding decent. At this point I won't even go into the economics of streaming and all that, because it is a dead horse. Suffice it to say, you have big-time bands out here that have been touring for years and have a slate of records that are just now in their 40s or later making enough money that they can afford a decent place to live and to help support a family.
So yeah, the production is a little samey. As far as I'm concerned, it's a minor miracle that any metal record gets made at all by new bands.
