I don't know what happened... I thought I sent you a PM a few days ago, but it must not have gotten to you.
Anyway, the first file you posted wasn't so bad - rough, but workable. I liked the musical idea you were laying down, nice progressive style.
The new track is definitely of better quality. Good jam, too. However, when I load the file into Nuendo, the waveform looks almost flat-peaked. That leaves no room for dynamic range, and explains why the drums have no impact. The depth seems all wrong, too. For instance, the first few seconds feel as though the listener is in the middle of a room with guitar amps along the walls and the drums far off. The change starting at 0:09 puts the power chords closer, but the drums farther. At 0:31 the closed-hat becomes the predominant image, but the drums vanish again at 0:42 (which is also where the waveform begins to be severely maxed out). The lead guitar projects nicely here, but the bass and rhythm guitars are hard to discern. 1:21 starts the sweetest part of the mix - balanced guitars and a punch in the drums. The change at 2:05 sees the toms pulling away from the listener, while the ride cymbal is right up front (which conflicts with the "distant" crash cymbal). The big build-up at 2:29 doesn't seem to go anywhere due to the lack of available dynamic range.
EQ, imaging, and balance are the main issues here. Did you record to multiple tracks, or to a two-track stereo mix? If you have multi-track files, I would love the opportunity to work on them for you. If not, perhaps I could fiddle with the mp3 file and send it back to you. Keep in touch.
Samo.
