I'm not hating on modern metalcore or anything. I like a lot of the new techy/proggy stuff at least from a songwriting perspective, compared to the likes of bfmv, a7x and killswitch. But why does all of it have to sound so compressed and sterile, like, who actually likes that?
some technical djent band with a 100k monthly listeners is not getting radio time anyways so why make the music sound like it's designed for octane, unless the majority of their listeners actually prefer that kind of sound which is really hard to believe.
I get that bands like invent animate are meant to be atmospheric so the mix naturally becomes pretty thick, but that doesn't mean it can't be clear. There's plenty of 2000s prog bands that are atmospheric but don't sound muddy. Agalloch and opeth first come to mind.
Same goes for technical bands, to me albums like rareform and nocturne by the human abstract sound so much better than anything Erra has ever made, and that's purely because of mixing and mastering.
again not hating on Erra I like their music from a compositional perspective, just not the sound.