Who is Will Putney? The man who makes modern metal breathe

If you’ve listened to a heavy record in the last 15 years and thought, "Damn, this sounds incredible," there’s a solid chance Will Putney was the guy behind the board.

It's almost a running joke in the scene. A band drops a new album that sounds absolutely massive, perfectly aggressive, yet somehow raw and organic. You check the production credits, and... yep. Putney again.

He is, without a doubt, one of the most prolific and in-demand producers in modern metal. But he’s not just the "producer guy." He's a guitarist, a songwriter, and the driving force behind his own studio, Graphic Nature Audio. He's also the main songwriter and guitarist for the deathcore titans Fit for an Autopsy and a guitarist in the chaotic supergroups End and Better Lovers.

The man is the sound of modern metalcore and deathcore. But what is that sound?

Where some producers go for sci-fi perfection or ice-cold "Thall," Will Putney’s magic is all about the feel. He makes records sound like a real, pissed-off, hyper-talented band playing live in a room. He’s the guy who gets the perfect balance of surgical precision and raw, human energy.

The Producer Who Plays
To understand Will Putney’s production, you have to remember he’s a musician first. He’s not just an engineer; he’s a player.

This is the guy writing the riffs for Fit for an Autopsy (FFAA). Since their formation, he’s been the band’s guitarist and primary songwriter. And while he famously doesn't tour with them much anymore because he’s so busy in the studio, he is the creative core of the band.

He's also a member of:
End: A chaotic hardcore supergroup featuring members of Counterparts and Shai Hulud.
Better Lovers: The explosive new band formed with former members of The Dillinger Escape Plan and Every Time I Die.

This isn't a producer who just understands heavy music; it's a guy who writes it.

He knows what a riff needs to do. He knows how a breakdown is supposed to feel. He knows the difference between a part that's just "heavy" and a part that makes you want to smash through a wall. This player's-point-of-view is his secret weapon. He’s not just capturing a performance; he’s helping to create it.

The "Putney" Sound: Organic Aggression
So, what is the "Will Putney sound"?

If you've heard The Great Collapse by Fit for an Autopsy, Laugh Tracks by Knocked Loose, or Radical by Every Time I Die, you’ve heard it. It’s a sound built on a few key pillars:

Massive, Natural Drums: This is his trademark. Putney is obsessed with drum sounds. He uses a ton of microphones, especially room mics, to capture the real, explosive sound of a kit. While samples are definitely part of the modern metal equation, his mixes feel real. The snares have crack and body, the kicks have a deep "thud" instead of just a "click," and the cymbals are allowed to breathe.
Guitar & Bass as One: He has a legendary ability to make guitars and bass lock together. The guitars are huge and saturated, but they never sound like a fizzy, over-processed mess. The bass is always right there with them, providing a powerful, grimy low-end that you feel as much as you hear.
Clarity in the Chaos: Like all the great modern producers, Putney is a master of separation. He can take a band as sonically dense as Vein.fm or as chaotic as Better Lovers and make every instrument perfectly audible. You hear the high-fret guitar panic, the low-end chug, the bass rumble, and every single drum hit, all at once.
The "Raw" Vibe: This is the most important part. His records sound dangerous. He's not afraid to let a little bit of noise, bleed, or feedback stay in the mix if it serves the song. He's not trying to make a sterile, perfect "product." He’s trying to bottle the energy of the band. Ice-T of Body Count (another band he produces) famously called him the "Dr. Dre of metal," which is about as high as praise gets.

The Client List: A "Who's Who" of Heavy
The list of bands Putney has worked with is genuinely insane. It’s not just one corner of the scene; he’s the go-to guy for everyone, from hardcore kids to death metal legends.

The (very abbreviated) list includes:
Knocked Loose
Every Time I Die
Gojira
Body Count (which won him a Grammy)
The Amity Affliction
Northlane
Thy Art Is Murder
The Acacia Strain
Terror
Silent Planet
After the Burial
Counterparts
Stray From The Path
Vein.fm

This list tells you everything. He's trusted by the most technical, the most raw, the most legendary, and the most groundbreaking bands in the game. He can make Knocked Loose sound like an avalanche of feedback and still make every note clear. He can take Gojira's massive prog-metal and make it even more epic. He’s the swiss-army knife of heavy.

The Studio: Graphic Nature Audio
All this magic happens at his studio in New Jersey, Graphic Nature Audio.

He started as an intern for the producer Machine and eventually took over the studio, renaming it and building it into his own personal fortress of tone. It's a hybrid studio, meaning he combines the best of both worlds: the speed and flexibility of working "in the box" (with plugins in his computer) and the power and character of real, analog outboard gear.

He’s known for using a ton of gear—Distressors, analog EQs, summing mixers—to get his sound. He’s not just a "plugin" guy. He's a "whatever it takes" guy. He’ll run tracks out of the computer and back into real hardware to get the grit and glue that defines his mixes.

He's also collaborated with plugin companies like STL Tones to release his own suite of guitar amp sims and drum samples, allowing musicians everywhere to get a piece of his sound (try Neural Amp Modeler for a free option).

And last but not least, he’s created a course called “How It’s Done w/ Will Putney” where he shows every part of his process, producing an entire song from scratch with Thy Art Is Murder as well as appearing on Nail The Mix with Knocked Loose.

The Putney Philosophy: Serve the Song
If you boil it all down, Will Putney's philosophy is simple: serve the song and the band.

He's not trying to stamp his "sound" on every record and make them all sound the same. He has a philosophy of preparation. He's famous for telling bands to be ready before they come to him. Write good songs, practice your ass off, and then come in to record.

He’s not there to build a fake-sounding record out of samples and editing tricks. He’s there to capture a great band at their absolute best and make them sound colossal.

That’s Will Putney. He's the producer’s producer and the musician's producer. He's the guy who respects the source, respects the song, and knows exactly how to make it hit you right in the chest. He's the architect of the sound you love, whether you knew his name or not.