Nail the ToneArchitects

Doomsday

Architects · Holy Hell (2018); originally a standalone single · 2017

Doomsday is drop F# on a 27-inch baritone with a ceramic Fishman Fluence Modern in the bridge, into a Tube Screamer-style boost and a block-letter Peavey 5150 through an oversized Mesa 4x12. The key move is the EQ: lots of gain and treble but mids pulled nearly all the way out, so the low F# stays tight instead of woolly. Layer two amps left and right if you can — the record uses four rhythm tracks, half 5150 and half Victory Kraken.

Where these numbers come from: worked out from the documented rig and the sound of the record

Tuning

Drop F# (F# F# B E G# C#)

That's drop B with the 6th string taken down to F#; the band's F# guitars are 27"-scale baritones strung .011–.015–.019–.032–.044–.072, so a standard-scale guitar will feel loose.

Part: Riff

Guitar

  • ESP LTD 27" baritone 6-string (custom) · Fishman Fluence Modern · bridge pickup
  • LSL Bari Bone baritone · bridge pickup

Amp

Peavey 5150 (block letter)

GAIN
6.0
BASS
5.0
MID
2.0
TREBLE
6.5
PRESENCE
6.0

Josh Middleton has said the Holy Hell rhythms were mostly a block-letter 5150 into an old UK-made Mesa/Boogie oversized 4x12 with an SM57; he also says he runs these amps with the mids almost off, so mids near 1–2 with resonance around 5–6 is the closest fit.

Amp

Victory Kraken

GAIN
6.0
BASS
5.0
MID
3.0
TREBLE
6.0
PRESENCE
5.0

Four rhythm tracks were cut for the record — two with the 5150 hard left/right and two with the Kraken — all through the same cab and overdrive; a KSR head was tried first and rejected.

Amp

Kemper Profiler

GAIN
6.0
BASS
5.0
MID
2.0
TREBLE
6.0
PRESENCE
6.0

Some album tracks were Kemper profiles of the same 6505+/5150-into-Mesa-cab rig, and the Kemper is what the band uses live; a fair substitute if you don't have the heads.

Pedals

  • Maxon OD-808 / Ibanez TS9 · overdrive (boost) · Stock unit used as a tightening boost: drive off, level high, tone around noon
  • Strymon BigSky · reverb · Used on leads and layered ambient guitars, not the main riff

Tone character

tight low-end chug · scooped mids · high-gain saturation · sharp pick attack · polished modern metalcore

medium

The riff itself is mostly single-note low-string chugging, but it lives or dies on tight palm muting and locking the syncopated accents to the kick at 125 BPM in a very low tuning.

Want this on your own amp?

These are the record's settings. Tell us what you play through and we'll translate every knob to the amp you actually own — free.

Adapt it to my gear

Sources