One of the bigger bands to entirely self-record is The Faceless. Autotheism was recorded at guitarist Michael Keene’s house (his living room actually, according to Wikipedia). Guitar Messenger caught up with the band leader for a lengthy interview, and the second half of it, included below, delves into his process.
It seems odd to go nuts over his guitar tone though. It’s fine, pretty decent for entirely direct guitars using Waves plugins as an amp sim even. But it’s nothing that makes me want to scour the archives of his tone secrets. Also, I have to butt in and say that tweaking your plugin settings during mixdown isn’t really “reamping.” But what do I know? If you think I’m crazy, and Keene’s tone is the end-all-be-all, feel free to chew me out in the comments.
But anyway, it’s a nice informative discussion for you Faceless fans out there. Not that you can enjoy it without eyes or ears. Or eyebrows. Don’t give me that cocked no-eyebrow look, you weirdo.
Source: Guitar Messenger
Mikah912 / February 14, 2014 9:47 am
I don’t get the indifference toward the guitar tone on Autotheism, whether it’s here or other sites. It really a super-clear Marshall-esque tone that sounds great on that album. I’ve gone nuts trying to recreate it, even to the point of buying Waves GTR just for that. I WISH it was easy to recreate.
I know that Keene rips off riffs from other bands (especially Extol), but overall I love his particular style and the direction he’s taken The Faceless in. I love Xenochrist as much as the next guy, but that sort of tech-death has been done to death.
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Turk / February 14, 2014 2:28 pm
His name is spelled Keene, not Keane.
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Metalhed27 / February 21, 2014 3:49 pm
Whatevs, nerd.
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Infiltrator / August 5, 2014 12:55 pm
Its not a guitar tone I would want to recreate, but I think its fits very well for the album mix and their style, especially his leads. The tone doesn’t have that thick and chunky wall of sound like I prefer for rhythms. However, the clarity is what really stands out, and every note is clean. The tones I actually do really love on Autotheism is the drums, especially compared to the prior 2 releases.
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dickslop / March 27, 2015 8:57 pm
honestly, i’ve never heard a better live distorted tone than The Faceless
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