While I consider them all to be final mixes, I could use some feedback for future albums. I would best describe the genre as "avant-garde melodic piano metal", though this album is a little more straightforward than prior work. Here's a link to one of the heavier ones:

http://hend.bandcamp.com/track/realms-of-misfortune

Any feedback is welcome. In particular, I could use feedback on alternate/better VSTs to use for instruments.

Good vocals, I'm surprised at how full the songs sound without guitars.
I'd bring the drums out more, they're too flat and suppressed.

If you were to add a heavy rhythm guitar (even if only in the background), and perhaps splitting some of the synth lines with a lead guitar, I guess it would turn out pretty freakin' awesome. The melodies are sweet.

As for VST suggestions: it'd be easier to know where you're at now, and which ones you've already tried.

I've definitely pondered adding a rhythm guitar, but then I wonder if I lose some of the "gimmick" of excluding guitars for this project. It's certainly something I might toy around with at least in parts, or on just a few songs for the next album and treat it as a hybrid choice rather than "all or none" as it has previously been.

VST-wise, I'm relying pretty much on the following:
4Front Piano
Toontrack EZDrummer Drumkit from Hell
Miroslav Philharmonik Orchestra
EDIROL Orchestra
SFZ to run a number of free-to-use soundfonts I've picked up over the last couple years
Fruity Loops 9 and just the built-in sound banks for any synth parts

I definitely bathe the songs in strings to add some fullness, and I'll have to look into a new virtual drumkit. I haven't tried much else beyond these, though I do have a Yamaha VST for piano I still need to try out. Hopefully that helps a little.

Take a look at http://www.propellerheads.se/products/reason/ which includes (and has additional packs of) synth and orchestral soundbanks. Quite decent. (I wouldn't touch others with a 10 ft pole, such as their electric bass samples.)

Alternatively, Native Instruments Komplete appears interesting.

About EZDrummer DFH: it's actually quite usable, I've heard some amazing albums done with it. Then again, if you should aim for something new, listen to lots of Youtube clips using Native Instruments Studio Drummer, Superior Drummer 2 and Addictive Drums (or others, Steve Slate for example) and then decide which seems most fit for your songs.

Dude, he’s already using FLStudio so suggest he get Reason is silly. Sure, it does come with some good samples and synths but nothing that is worth the price of admission if you are already using a DAW. And after looking at the specs and listening to some samples I’m pretty that Reason does not come with anything that is going to sound better than that Miroslav Philharmonik orchestra.

hend- you know you get free updates for life with FLStudio (assuming you didn’t pirate it)? PS, it hasn’t been called Fruity Loops in about a decade

Not in my experience. But to each his own, of course.

Obviously everyone has their preferences, but when it comes to the major players 'DAW X is better at making electronic music than DAW Y' type arguements don't really hold up. Actually, if you'd like to extoll the virtues of Reason you should hop into the thread below.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=94673

I've been meaning to write up another post in there, but basically the dude is talking DAWs and synths and doesn't seem overly fussed about Reason.

I was simply suggesting alternatives to Hend, because it's not which software sounds best, it's which software gives you the sound you want.
For that, you need to experiment a bit.

(Also, I'm not extolling anything: I said it was 'quite decent' but that some of their samples suck.)

Thanks all for the feedback. Yeah, I guess I'm behind the times with FLStudio, as I hadn't used it for a long, long time back when it was called Frooty Loops. I'll look into Reason as well, if only because it might have "just the right synth" for a given sound.

I might have to expand into a different drumkit just to see what else is out there. I'd hate to keep using DFH if there is a different virtual kit that fits the sound a little better. And of course, it doesn't hurt for me to learn more about mixing drums and getting feedback on that.

The perpetual quest for a more polished sound continues!