HiMMP: Heaviness in Metal Music Production

Project Overview

The ‘Heaviness in Metal Music Production’ (HiMMP) project explored heaviness as the central quality feature of metal music. Despite metal’s rich history and cultural significance, there has been surprisingly little understanding of what makes it sound “heavy”. The research investigates how heaviness is created sonically, how leading metal producers conceptualise it, and how they meticulously control its various aspects during the recording and mixing processes.

This project was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) in the United Kingdom under reference number AH/T010991/1, with a runtime from September 2020 to August 2024.

Research Aims

See the five key research aims for this project

Methodology

Learn more about our methodology

Research Team

The project is led by Principal Investigator Prof Jan Herbst, Professor of Music and a popular music scholar, musicologist, and music producer. He is joined by Co-Investigator Dr Mark Mynett, University Teaching Fellow in Music Technology and Production, metal music producer, and author of the first handbook for metal music production (Metal Music Manual).

The video production was carried out by Visual Concepts.

Outcomes and Outputs

Discover the HiMMP project's outputs

Useful Links

Please see for useful links connected to the project

The research centred around a single song, ‘In Solitude’, which was composed, recorded, and prepared for production by the HiMMP team. The song incorporates elements from doom metal, symphonic metal, thrash metal, and modern extreme metal, deliberately alternating between these subgenres to observe how producers respond to changing stylistic elements.

The project’s methodological approach is distinctive in its integration of practical music production with academic research. Rather than simply theorising about heaviness, the project has documented the entire creative process, from composition through to final production, creating an empirical foundation for understanding this crucial aesthetic property of metal music.

The song features performances by well-known artists in the metal scene:

Ralf Scheepers (vocals; Primal Fear, Avantasia, Gamma Ray)
Aaron Stainsthorpe (vocals; My Dying Bride)
Rich Shaw (guitar; ex-Cradle of Filth)
Luke Appleton (bass; ex-Iced Earth, Blaze Bayley)
Dan Mullins (drums; My Dying Bride)
Mark Deeks (orchestration; Winterfylleth)

Each performer was selected for their expertise in specific metal subgenres, ensuring authentic performances across the stylistic range of the composition. The multitrack recording provides various options for the participating producers, including drum samples, clean and unedited tom tracks, various bass guitar layers, and different guitar tones, allowing them to customise their mix according to their artistic vision and technical approach.

Eight world-leading metal music producers were recruited to mix the song in their regular working environments:

Jens Bogren (credits include Opeth, Amon Amarth, At the Gates)
Mike Exeter (credits include Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Heaven & Hell)
Adam "Nolly" Getgood (credits include Periphery, Animals as Leaders, Architects)
Josh Middleton (credits include Sylosis, Architects)
Fredrik Nordström (credits include In Flames, Arch Enemy, At the Gates)
Buster Odeholm (credits include Humanity's Last Breath, Vildhjarta)
Dave Otero (credits include Cattle Decapitation, Khemmis, Archspire)
Andrew Scheps (credits include Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Adele)

Each producer’s session was extensively documented through screen captures and followed by comprehensive video interviews exploring their conceptualisation of heaviness and their technical decision-making processes. This approach yields insights into both the philosophical and practical dimensions of heaviness in metal music production.

The HiMMP project has produced numerous significant outputs, including:

Dataset

A comprehensive dataset containing:

The complete multitrack recording of ‘In Solitude’ for educational and research use
Eight professional mixes by renowned producers, including both original mix masters and loudness-matched versions for comparative analysis
Individual mixing stems allowing detailed examination of production choices
High-resolution audio files for analytical purposes
Drum samples taken from the original kit recording
Direct input (DI) tracks for guitar and bass

All audio mixes and mixing stems are freely available for educational purposes, enabling students, educators, and researchers to learn from the production approaches of world-leading metal producers. This resource allows for detailed analysis of mixing decisions and provides invaluable insights into professional-level metal music production techniques.

Video Documentation

Over 16 hours of video material including:

Conceptual interviews with each producer discussing their understanding of heaviness
Detailed footage of mixing sessions with producer commentary
Comparative analyses of different mixing approaches
Technical demonstrations of production techniques specific to metal music

Publications

For the latest information, please see the outputs listed on PURE.

Books

Herbst, Jan & Mynett, Mark (2025). Heaviness in Metal Music Production: How and Why It Works. Abingdon: Routledge (forthcoming).
Herbst, Jan & Mynett, Mark (2025). Heaviness in Metal Music Production: Learn from the Masters. Abingdon: Routledge (forthcoming).

Articles and chapters

Herbst, Jan & Mynett, Mark (2024). Contemporary Approaches to Metal Music Mixing and Production: Heavy Metal, Death Metal, and Metalcore. In Lori Burns & Ciro Scotto (eds.). The Routledge Handbook of Metal Music Composition. London: Routledge, pp. 469–481 (forthcoming). (open access)
Mynett, Mark & Herbst, Jan (2024). Masters of the Art of Mixing: 8 Producers – One Song – Infinite Insights. Sound on Sound, 9/2024, pp. 52–61. (open access)
Herbst, Jan & Mynett, Mark (2023). Mapping the Origins of Heaviness Between 1970 and 1995: A Historical Overview of Metal Music Production. In Jan Herbst (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Metal Music. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 29–42. (link)
Herbst, Jan & Mynett, Mark (2023). Lorna Shore’s ‘To the Hellfire’: A Study in Heaviness. Metal Music Studies, 9(2), pp. 189–213. (open access)
Herbst, Jan & Mynett, Mark (2023). “I Just Go with What Feels Right.” Variance and Commonality in Metal Music Mixing Practice. El Oido Pensante, 11(1), pp. 4–31. (open access)
Herbst, Jan & Mynett, Mark (2022). What Exactly Is “Heaviness” in Heavy Metal Music?. Futurum, 9/2022. (open access)
Herbst, Jan & Mynett, Mark (2022). What is ‘Heavy’ in Metal? A Netnographic Analysis of Online Forums for Metal Musicians and Producers. Popular Music and Society, 45(5), pp. 633–653. (open access)
Herbst, Jan & Mynett, Mark (2022). Toward a Systematic Understanding of “Heaviness” in Metal Music Production. Rock Music Studies, 10(1), pp. 16–37. (open access)
Herbst, Jan & Mynett, Mark (2021). Nail the Mix: Standardization in Mixing Metal Music? Popular Music and Society, 44(5), pp. 628–649. (open access)
Herbst, Jan & Mynett, Mark (2021). (No?) Adventures in Recording Land: Engineering Conventions in Metal Music. Rock Music Studies, 9(2), pp. 137–156. (open access)

Outcome

The project has developed an empirically grounded framework of heaviness derived from industry practice, which is not only theoretically significant but also audio-visually comprehensible through our extensive documentation. This framework offers valuable insights for both academic study and practical applications in metal music production. For more information, see the project’s details on the funder’s website.