Ol’ Qwerty Bastard

So as of late I've been obsessing over the production side of metal music, and I love hearing how simply working with a different producer can completely alter a band's sound. This thread is dedicated to the hugely underrated producers and sound engineers out there who have helped bands reach new peaks and create some of the most brutal and relentless metal music without even playing an instrument.

Kurt Ballou is the first one worth mentioning, and perhaps also the most important single person in metal music this decade, in my opinion. Not only did he help usher in a new age of kick ass mathcore influenced metalcore that was brutal enough to crush your ears yet techy enough to challenge any existing connotations of what hardcore punk was as the guitarist of Converge, but he also has one of the best production discographies I've ever seen.

Oh, what's that? You want some proof? Alright.

Cave In - Beyond Hypothermia
Orchid - Chaos is Me
Isis - The Red Sea
Pg. 99 - Document 8
Modern Life Is War - Witness
Magrudergrind - S/T
Nails - Unsilent Death & Abandon All Life
KEN Mode - Venerable
Gaza - No Absolute in Human Suffering

And a ton of other magnificent stuff including Torche, High on Fire, Old Man Gloom and way, way, way more. Seriously, this man is a god when it comes to making crunchy, in your face guitar tones and I will forever worship anything he makes.

He's working with Nails again on their new album (which releases this Friday, yay!) and I can't wait to see how that turns out. He's kind of slowed down since 2014 which saw him produce an awe inspiring 13 albums throughout the year, but nonetheless, the dude is a complete monster behind the boards.

Now let's see it bitches, try and top that.

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OccultHawk

Rick Rubin?

Ol’ Qwerty Bastard

Rubin has done some great work with Slayer and SOAD, and Rage Against the Machine, but in terms of his overall body of work I think he's also produced a lot of flops like Metallica's later work and Linkin Park's as well. Not that he's to be held responsible for the directions they pursued, but I just don't think his production helps boost those albums in any way.

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OccultHawk

Steve Albini?

Ol’ Qwerty Bastard

He's definitely an important one, although I consider a lot of his non-metal work to be superior to his stuff within the genre, but I digress.

Scott Burns is definitely an important producer as well, with his work with Death, Cannibal Corpse, Assuck, Obituary, and Sepultura playing a huge role in that era of metal music. Burns produced Slaughter in the Vatican too.

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JGuy Grungeman

Jack Endino.

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OccultHawk

Colin Richardson?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Richardson

Blank.

Kevin Churko. He's been working with the more mainstream metal acts but I don't think he ventures outside the genre. And say what you will about the bands he produces, but the production quality is just incredible on his albums.