Muddy chugs aren't your amp.
You know the sound. The riff is tight on its own, then the palm mutes dig in and the low end swells into a blanket. Most people reach for the amp's bass knob, and the whole riff gets thin.
In this riff the problem is one narrow range: 160 Hz. Measured, the riff's spectrum has a bump of +5.1 dB at 160 Hz, and it's the palm mutes that pile into it.
Cut it only when it builds up
A static cut at 160 Hz fixes the chugs and thins out everything else. A dynamic band only pulls the range down when it gets loud. In the video, one dynamic bell (160 Hz, -7 dB, Q 1.4, threshold -18 dB) moves between -3 and -7 dB on its own, averaging -5.2 dB.
Measured after vs before, same loudness (both -9.6 LUFS): 160 Hz down 5.3 dB, 125 Hz down 4.1, 200 Hz down 3.7, 250 Hz down 2.1, and everything above 400 Hz stays where it was.
Find yours
- Boost a narrow band (Q around 4) by 8 to 10 dB.
- Sweep it from 120 to 300 Hz until the boom jumps out.
- Flip it to a cut, widen it a little, and switch on dynamic mode.
- Set the threshold so it only moves on the chugs.
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