Maybe it's the circles I move more in now than before, but I'm getting the impression that Mr Ballou seems very much to be the latest "THE" producer to go to, especially if you're part of this rising new, what I call, "blackened crust" movement (Trap Them, Nails, The Secret).

So I thought I'd come along here and see what you peeps thought of him/his work.

I have to say,a lthough I'm a total layman when it comes to the technical side of production and/or instrumentation, there always seems to be something tangibly (is that a word?) impressive to something he produces, almost as if he's nailed that bands essence in one go.
For example, look at Misery Index. Though their songwriting and evolution was always strong, their production quality always seemed to let them down.
Compare 'Discordia' to the Kurt Ballou produced 'Traitors' (which, incidentally, STILL sounds as awesome now as it did when it came out two and a bit years ago); or compare the Disfear album 'Misanthropic Generation' (with it's dull, muffled almost choking thickness to it's sound) with the (razor sharp, pounding) Ballou-produced 'Live The Storm'.


As for the "movement" idea, maybe it's just me over-analysing things but with Trap Them constantly touring and getting plenty of praise, coupled with new bands like The Secret and Nails seemingly exploding into popularity you can surely see the similarities.

Never heard of any of them bands. Listening to Trap Them, it sounds like somebody abducted a 90s UKHC band and made them play on Entombed's equipment.

Whether that's a good thing or not is another matter.

"Clean"???

In what way is the Nails or Trap Them albums any "cleaner" than say the Disrupt back catalogue for example?