Masters of Reality: the (de)construction of reality in the production of Metal Music

Employing a far more fragmented approach to record production (Chanan, 1995), record producers working with Metal music continually establish new acoustic and sonic realities through multitrack technology, employing increasing levels of control over radical presentations of space and juxtaposition of timbre. However, producing heaviness through the affordances of multitracking, has informed prescriptive and homogenous production methodologies that require hyperreal production practices (Thomas, 2021).

This essay attends to the (de)construction of reality within the hyperreal production idioms of contemporary Metal music, explored through the lived experiences of British Record Producers; as well as the recording and mixing practices of sub-genres of Metal that do not always conform to the tropes of contemporary productions (Mynett, 2017). It is argued that contemporary metal productions do not require real spaces to exist, indeed they demand the juxtaposition of radical spaces and embellished performances to create unique sonic environments. Whilst for subgenres that align with more nostalgic production aesthetics, space becomes a compositional device within production. Its role is not to transport the listener to a particular space, but to reinforce sense of reality, supporting the traditional affinity for capturing the sounds of real spaces and performances directly contradicting contemporary methodologies.