Today, we are announcing the winners of the Dark Times Collaboration – Turning Point Mix Contest!
Dark Times Collaboration is a new, original music project, founded by guitarist Guilherme Miranda (Entombed AD, KroW) and guitarist/producer Brian “Mitts” Daniels (ex-Madball, Skarhead, Rag Men). It includes bassist Chris O’Toole (Unearth, Turbid North), drummer Jono Garrett (Turbid North, Mos Generator), featured vocalist Ori Frank (Eternal Struggle), and an appearance by Brazilian hip hop artist Phantom DK. Working entirely remotely during the 2020 pandemic, the group has written and recorded an original song entitled “Turning Point” that was mixed by Kristian Kohle at Kohlekeller Studios in Seeheim, Germany.
For this mix contest, our good friend Kristian Kohle was a judge! Kristian has a wonderful YouTube channel, and runs Kohlekeller studios, where he has done a ton of great metal albums with some incredible artists.
Our other guest judge was Jens Bogren, founder and head of Fascination Street Studios since 2001. His famous worldwide for his work with some of the biggest acts in metal today. Many of the albums from the artists above were awarded with gold records, album of the year and Grammy’s or similar awards!
Some honourable mentions are Carlos Arcay, Thomas Berdal, and MxD.
These honourable mentions will win a bunch of digital prizes including: Pro Mix Academy everything bundle and Jens Bogren’s Impulse Response Pack (a prize bundle worth over $4,000)!
The top three winners will receive prize bundles valued between $7,000 to $10,000+! Check out our contest winners below:
3rd Place Winner: Chris Muehlenberg
Chris’ mix has a lot of big low end, a very present snare driving the song, and there is some energy and aggression there. Although there are some mixing elements that could be improved, overall the vibe was great.
Chris will be winning over $7,000 in prizes, including SC 204 (Eve Audio), Evo 4 (Audient), MA 50 (Mojave), Neural DSP Omega Ampworks Granophyre, Neural DSP Archetype: Nolly, Neural DSP Darkglass Ultra, Neural DSP Fortin NTS Suite, Jens Bogren IR Pack, Pro Mix Academy Everything Bundle, Produce Like A Pro Academy Membership, and Lancaster Audio Everything IR Bundle!
2nd Place Winner: Rafael Solorio
This is a very good mix, especially in terms of energy and attitude; it has clean guitars, and the vocal focus was well done. The pre-chorus was not seized as much as it could have been but overall this was a very well done mix.
Rafael will be winning over $8,000 in prizes, including EVE Audio SC 208, Audient ID14, Mojave 301, Neural DSP Omega Ampworks Granophyre, Neural DSP Archetype: Nolly, Neural DSP Darkglass Ultra, Neural DSP Fortin NTS Suite, Jens Bogren IR Pack, Pro Mix Academy Everything Bundle, Produce Like A Pro Academy Membership, and Lancaster Audio Everything IR Bundle
1st Place Winner: Vitor Gorga
The vibe of this mix was great! The compression and rooms of the drums felt like it had a lot of energy and was deep, as opposed to sounding like a bunch of samples were used. The vocals were slightly under-mixed, but this is an easy fix. It has nice dimension to it, the low end was nice, the guitars were done well…all the common problems in the mixes were not present here.
Vitor will be winning over $10, 000 in prizes, including EVE Audio SC 307, Audient ID44, Mojave MA 300, Neural DSP Everything Bundle, Jens Bogren IR Pack, Pro Mix Academy Everything Bundle, Produce Like A Pro Academy Membership, and Lancaster Audio Everything IR Bundle.
Thank you to everyone who submitted their mixes – we know how much time and effort it takes to create these!
Watch the video below to hear the mixes of the winners and those who received honorable mentions!
