Mastering Fuzz Evil's "Smear Merchants" — A Case Study
- Mark Milbourne
- Jan 2
- 2 min read
I first connected with Fuzz Evil through their drummer Cajun, who reached out about mastering a single. That session went well, and when it came time to master their fourth full-length album, band leader Joe got in touch to bring me on for the whole project.
What I didn't expect was just how dialled-in the pre-master mixes would be.
The Project
Smear Merchants is Fuzz Evil's fourth studio album, released in March 2025 on Desert Records. Ten tracks of stoner rock and doom metal—big, fuzzy, and heavy. The band recorded, produced, and mixed the album themselves, and they came to me for mastering.
The goal was clear: make it loud, punchy, and cohesive—without killing the dynamics that make this kind of music breathe.
The Process
The biggest challenge was the droning guitars and bass. When everything is tuned low and saturated with fuzz, it's easy for the mix to turn into a wall of mud. My job was to create movement—letting the drums and vocals punch through while keeping the crushing low end intact.
I leaned on subtle EQ moves, multiband compression, and careful stereo imaging to give each track space without losing the heaviness. The goal wasn't to "fix" anything—the mixes were already solid. It was about enhancing what was there and making sure the album sounded like an album, not just a collection of songs.
The Back and Forth
This is where having a good relationship with the band paid off. Before mastering even started, we went back and forth on the mixes—tightening things up, cleaning out problem frequencies, making sure every track was ready. By the time I actually mastered the album, it only took one revision.
That's rare. And it's a testament to how well Fuzz Evil knows their sound—and their openness to feedback and improvements along the way. That kind of collaboration is crucial to getting a great result.
The Result
Smear Merchants dropped on Desert Records in March 2025 and landed on Monster Riff's list of top records for the month. The band has since announced a West Coast tour, and the album continues to get love from the stoner rock community.
I'm proud to have my name on this one.
Listen
You can stream Smear Merchants on Spotify, Bandcamp, or wherever you get your heavy music.
Interested in mastering for your next release?
