How to chug better 101

Chugs are the heart and soul of metal guitar, but what gear and technique hacks can we use to make them better than ever?

It’s hard to imagine heavy metal without chugs; it’d be like boxing without punches, eating without taste.

In modern metal, especially, a song’s breakdown – the place where the chugs really kick into gear and go for the jugular – can be make or break. So, how can we use gear and techniques to make our chugs fatter, filthier, and more productive?

We could talk about certain tricks like polymeters to give your chugs a more interesting groove, but as we’ve covered that trick in a separate blog, we’re going to sidestep past that aspect of chugging here.  

Let’s get to it…

Nick Broomhall’s “gross” chugs

Hard-working guitarist/producer/YouTuber Nick Broomhall, meanwhile, has his own recipe for vomit-inducing chugs.

“If you want your deathcore breakdown chugs to be even grosser, please steal this from me,” he says. “I’ve been doing this for about 12 years, and I’ve never heard anyone else talk about it. I fucking love it.” 

The idea relies on drop tuning, and the age-old tritone chord – that's 1-0-0 on the thickest strings. Whatever the part is, use that chord, and track only one side of the mix. On the other side of the mix, invert the chord – so, 0-1-1. It doesn't matter which side each part sits.

In effect, it is working similarly to the -1 semitone trick we'll get to below, but splitting the parts in an interesting way. There’s a really fat and nasty vibe to it.

Volumes guitarist Diego Farias actually takes this idea a step further but sticking an 0-0-4 chord, producing the same sort of result but with a different tonality. Both versions are well worth exploring if you’re sick of the same open string palm mutes and power chords.

Who needs clarity?

A personal favourite trick of mine is to utilize a pitch-shifter, but to keep it subtle. The new Boss XS-1 pedal is great for this, but for modeller users, this trick is most likely already baked in, waiting to be abused.

Take a pitch-shifter, and turn it to -1 semitone - the Quad Cortex, for instance, has a pitch-shifting effect block. You’ll only want to dial in the wet signal by about 50%, so it’s not completely overriding the dry signal or barely noticeable.

What you get is a really gnarly, not-quite-right tone, with the pitch-shifter affecting the signal enough to give it a really disgusting tonality, without being so jarring you sound out of tune.

Use it for moments where you really want your chugs to be hellishly vile, but be sure not to overuse it. Remember, our ears can grow accustomed to even the nastiest of sounds quite quickly, which is why you only want to season with such spicy spice in moderation.

Compress me, baby

Andy Sneap, who has produced some of the most adored metal bands of all time – See Opeth, Testament, Killswitch, Dream Theater, and Judas Priest for evidence – uses a simple EQ trick for his magic.

With palm muted chugs, he uses a parametric EQ and bypasses all bands except for the low-mid band. On his preferred C4 plugin, he sets the crossover points to focus on the problem area, where things can get too muddy, typically between 100Hz and 300Hz.

Thus, with the compressor set right, it will only start compressing when the chugs get too boomy. It keeps the riff tidy, without scraping any meat off the bones.

Tone is in the hands

Of course, gear tricks and clever split chords are great hacks, but let’s not forget that tone is in the hands. The position our hand is in, and where we make contact with the strings, can make a huge difference.  

The closer your hand is to the bridge pickup, the more boom you will get. Move toward the neck pickup, and it gets more metallic and scratchy,  almost single-coil-like. Use them in conjunction with one another, and you’ll give the same chug a really interesting tonal variance.

You can hear it in the intro of Monuments The Uncollective, with the clicky sound all coming from Browne’s roaming hand. Doxa is another.

It’s the same thing with Black Label Society’s Stillborn, too, which is a really good example of how a note can sound different with slight hand adjustments. The main riff is one note, but Zakk Wylde’s hand moves across the strings towards the bridge, and then away from it, as the riff progresses. It’s one night, but those nuanced differences achieved from how the picking hand operates really brings it to life.   

Bite and bloom

To that end, how much control you do or do not have over the note can play a big role in the sound of a riff.

Gear-wise, experiment with different noise gate intensities. Having it cranked will give you that very sharp, djent-y sound. Notes are killed, and there’s no fluff circling the notes. Roll it back, and the notes will bloom a little bit more; they’ll have more rounded edges. Bring in automation, and the effects can be really interesting.

You can treat your hand in the same way. Varying how you chug within a part can make it feel far more dynamic. Try getting that really snappy djent sound for a cluster of notes by really digging in with your palm mute, and perhaps move your hand closer to the bridge for extra bite, and use your fretting hand to skip gently across the strings. This also helps kill off any extraneous overtones.

For the opposite, release the pressure of your palm mute for other parts, and let the note bloom a little. Don’t make it so on/off, and you’ll get a completely different feel.

Doing the same thing over and over again is boring – are you listening, AC/DC? – so spice things up. Try your own variations of these ideas, as Volumes did, and make chugs your own. Make chugs your bitch.  

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