Boss HM-2

Last updated
Boss HM-2
BossHM2HeavyMetal.jpg
Brand Boss
Manufacturer Roland Corporation
Dates1983—1991 (Original)
2020—present (Waza Craft)
Price$90 (Original launch)
Technical specifications
Effects type Distortion pedal
Controls
Pedal controlDistortion (Dist), highs (H), lows (L), output volume (level), standard and custom mode (Waza Craft)
Input/output
Inputsmono
Outputsmono
Metal song created with the Boss HM-2.

The Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal is a distortion pedal manufactured by Boss from October 1983 until October 1991. Designed to emulate a Marshall stack, it became associated with Swedish death metal and gained a cult following in the heavy metal scene.

Contents

Background

The Boss HM-2 was first issued in October 1983. It was originally manufactured in Japan from 1983 until 1988 and then in Taiwan from 1988 until 1991. [1] It was designed to emulate the mid-range response of a Marshall stack. [2] The HM-2 is based on Boss's DS-1. Despite achieving moderate success in the glam metal scene, the pedal was discontinued in 1991; it was succeeded by the HM-3 Hyper Metal and MT-2 Metal Zone, the latter of which became a commercial success and top-selling Boss pedal. [2]

Since its discontinuance, the HM-2 has become one of the most demanded pedals of the Boss back catalogue. [3] [1] [2] Guitarist and record producer Kurt Ballou has been cited as an influence for the pedal's resurgence [4] and bands such as Nails and Rotten Sound have also appropriated the pedal's sound for different extreme metal styles. [5]

In 2020, Boss Corporation president Yoshi Ikegami announced that the pedal would be reissued as a part of the Waza Craft pedal series under the name Boss HM-2W. For the reissue, the company also established a Facebook group to seek design feedback from the fanbase. [6] [5] The prototype of the HM-2W was tested by Ola Englund. The Waza Craft version added standard and custom mode to the Boss HM-2W.

Swedish death metal

Boss HM-2 with maximum settings (colloquially referred to as being "dimed"). These settings became well known in the Swedish death metal scene to achieve the "Chainsaw" tone. Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal.jpg
Boss HM-2 with maximum settings (colloquially referred to as being "dimed"). These settings became well known in the Swedish death metal scene to achieve the "Chainsaw" tone.

Leif Cuzner of Swedish death metal band Nihilist used the pedal with the controls "dimed," and bands like Entombed, Dismember, and Bloodbath followed suit. Many Swedish bands have used the HM-2 with a Peavey amp to achieve this sound. In the 1990s, the pedal attracted a cult following in the underground heavy metal scene due to its formative influence over the Swedish death metal sound. [7] Entombed's 1990 album, Left Hand Path , cemented its use in the scene. [6]

TC Electronic Eyemaster, a Boss HM-2 clone. TC Electronic Eyemaster.tiff
TC Electronic Eyemaster, a Boss HM-2 clone.

At the Gates's 1995 album, Slaughter of the Soul , combined the Boss HM-2 with a Boss MT-2 and Boss SD-1.

Many HM-2 pedals, especially ones made in Japan, have been collected by the guitarists of Entombed and Dismember.[ citation needed ]

Controls

According to Michael Astley-Brown of Guitar World , compared to the other distortion pedals, the pedal offered "radically versatile low and high ‘Color Mix’ EQ controls with 20 dB of boost/cut." [3]

Notable users

Notable users of the pedal include:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Effects unit</span> Electronic device that alters audio

An effects unit, effects processor, or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Entombed (band)</span> Swedish death metal band

Entombed is a Swedish death metal band formed in 1987 under the name of Nihilist. Entombed began their career as an early pioneer of Scandinavian death metal which initially differed from its American counterpart by its distinct "buzzsaw" guitar tone. However, by the early 1990s their sound had broadened to include garage rock and other influences. This new style would eventually be described as death 'n' roll. Entombed's main influences include bands such as Slayer, Celtic Frost, Repulsion, and Autopsy. Along with Dismember, Grave and Unleashed, Entombed has been referred to as one of the "big four" of Swedish death metal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dismember (band)</span> Swedish death metal band

Dismember is a Swedish death metal band formed in 1988. They split up in 2011 but reunited in 2019. Pioneers of Swedish death metal, Dismember is now considered one of the country's "big four", alongside Entombed, Grave, and Unleashed.

<i>Like an Ever Flowing Stream</i> 1991 studio album by Dismember

Like an Ever Flowing Stream is the debut album by Swedish death metal band Dismember, released in May 1991.

Swedish death metal is a death metal music scene developed in Sweden. Many Swedish death metal bands are associated with the melodic death metal movement, thus giving Swedish death metal a different sound from other variations of death metal. Unlike American death metal groups, the first Swedish bands were rooted in hardcore punk. Gothenburg has a large melodic death metal scene while Stockholm is known for its more raw death metal scene.

<i>Clandestine</i> (album) 1991 studio album by Entombed

Clandestine is the second studio album by Swedish death metal band Entombed, released on 12 November 1991 in Europe and on 11 February 1992 in North America. Along with Entombed's preceding album, Clandestine helped establish a distinctively Swedish sound in the death metal genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boss Corporation</span> Japanese musical effects manufacturer

Boss is a manufacturer of effects pedals for electric guitar and bass guitar. It is a division of the Roland Corporation, a Japanese manufacturer that specializes in musical equipment and accessories. For many years Boss has manufactured a wide range of products related to effects processing for guitars, including "compact" and "twin" effects pedals, multi-effect pedals, electronic tuners and pedal boards. In more recent times, Boss expanded their product range by including digital studios, rhythm machines, samplers and other electronic music equipment. They also are now manufacturing solid-state amplifiers and speaker heads such as the Waza and the Katana. Both feature multi-effects units meant to emulate Boss' classic effects pedals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boss DS-1</span> Guitar effect pedal

The Boss DS-1 is a distortion pedal for guitar, manufactured by the Roland Corporation under the brand name Boss since 1978. The first distortion effects unit made by Boss, it has become a classic effect, used by many notable guitar players.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kurt Ballou</span> American musician and record producer

Kurt Ballou is an American musician and record producer based in Massachusetts, best known as the guitarist for metalcore band Converge and for his prolific recording and production work at his own GodCity Studio.

<i>Left Hand Path</i> (album) 1990 studio album by Entombed

Left Hand Path is the debut studio album by Swedish death metal band Entombed, released on 4 June 1990 by Earache Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibanez Tube Screamer</span> Guitar overdrive pedal

The Ibanez Tube Screamer is a guitar overdrive pedal, made by Ibanez. The pedal has a characteristic mid-boosted tone popular with blues, rock and metal players. The Tube Screamer has been used by many guitarists to create their signature sound, and is one of the most successful, widely copied, and custom-modified ("modded") overdrive pedals in the history of the electric guitar.

<i>Wolverine Blues</i> 1993 studio album by Entombed

Wolverine Blues is the third studio album by Swedish death metal band Entombed, released on 4 October 1993 by Earache Records. The album displays a completely different sound from previous releases, combining elements of hard rock, heavy metal, and hardcore punk while still retaining much of their traditional, death metal roots, in a style that would later be known as death 'n' roll. The band also adopted a mid-tempo groove metal style for this release, similar to that of American band Pantera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pro Co RAT</span> Guitar distortion pedal

The Pro Co "The RAT" is a distortion pedal produced by Pro Co Sound. The original RAT was developed in the basement of Pro Co's Kalamazoo, Michigan facility in 1978. Numerous variations of the original RAT pedal are still being produced today, and it has become the 8th best selling guitar pedal of all time.

<i>Uprising</i> (Entombed album) 2000 studio album by Entombed

Uprising is the sixth full-length album by Swedish metal band Entombed. It was released in 2000. Album was recorded at Das Boot Studios and produced by Nico Elgstrand and Entombed. Musically, this album abandons the commercial alternative metal-stylings of Same Difference and returns to a heavier, more straight-forward death 'n' roll sound reminiscent of Wolverine Blues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Distortion (music)</span> Type of electronic audio manipulation

Distortion and overdrive are forms of audio signal processing used to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments, usually by increasing their gain, producing a "fuzzy", "growling", or "gritty" tone. Distortion is most commonly used with the electric guitar, but may also be used with other electric instruments such as electric bass, electric piano, synthesizer and Hammond organ. Guitarists playing electric blues originally obtained an overdriven sound by turning up their vacuum tube-powered guitar amplifiers to high volumes, which caused the signal to distort. While overdriven tube amps are still used to obtain overdrive, especially in genres like blues and rockabilly, a number of other ways to produce distortion have been developed since the 1960s, such as distortion effect pedals. The growling tone of a distorted electric guitar is a key part of many genres, including blues and many rock music genres, notably hard rock, punk rock, hardcore punk, acid rock, and heavy metal music, while the use of distorted bass has been essential in a genre of hip hop music and alternative hip hop known as "SoundCloud rap".

<i>Same Difference</i> (album) 1998 studio album by Entombed

Same Difference is the fifth studio album by Swedish metal band Entombed. It was released in 1998. This album shows the band moving into a more commercial sound and is generally considered the band's weakest moment both by fans and by the band's former vocalist, LG Petrov. This is the band's first album without original drummer and primary songwriter Nicke Andersson, who left Entombed to focus on his side project, The Hellacopters.

<i>Madre de Dios</i> (album) 2001 studio album by Dozer

Madre de Dios is Dozer's second album, released March 6, 2001 on Man's Ruin Records. All songs were recorded in March 2000 at the Rockhouse Studio in Borlänge, Sweden, except "Octanoid" which was recorded in August 2000. "Rings of Saturn" was recorded in December 2000. All songs were mixed and produced by Dozer with Bengt Backe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trap Them</span> American hardcore punk band

Trap Them was an American hardcore punk band formed in Salem, New Hampshire in 2001. They released five studio albums and five EPs, including a split EP with Extreme Noise Terror.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Breath (band)</span> American heavy metal band

Black Breath is an American heavy metal band from Washington that formed in Bellingham in 2006 and later moved to Seattle. They play hardcore punk-influenced extreme metal. A key factor of their sound is the "Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal Pedal", which was popularized by bands such as Entombed, Dismember and Edge of Sanity in the early 1990s.

References

  1. 1 2 "Boss shares images of new Waza HM-2W cosmetic prototype on Facebook". Gearnews. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "BOSS Cult Classics". rolandcorp.com.au. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  3. 1 2 Astley-Brown, Michael. "Boss confirms an HM-2 Heavy Metal reissue is in the works". Guitar World . Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  4. ↑ Corfield, Chris. "The 10 coolest discontinued Boss pedals". Guitar World . Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 "Boss is bringing the HM-2 Heavy Metal back from the dead as a Waza Craft reissue – and it wants your design input". MusicRadar . Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  6. 1 2 Seah, Daniel. "Here's a First Look At The Boss Hm-2 Waza Craft Reissue". guitar.com. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  7. ↑ Schneider, David (September 28, 2019). "The Buzzsaw Riffs of the Stockholm Scene". Premier Guitar . Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  8. ↑ Rotten Sound on Facebook
  9. ↑ "Erhan Alman of Heriot". Orange Amps . Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  10. ↑ Twitter
  11. 1 2 The Greatest Boss Metal Zone MT-2 Moments
  12. ↑ Instagram
  13. ↑ Greeves, David (Dec 2011). "Matt Cox: MIDI Tech for The Chemical Brothers". Sound On Sound. United Kingdom. Retrieved 2022-08-10.
  14. 1 2 GEAR GODS RIGGED - Entombed A.D.
  15. 1 2 3 HM-2: The Sound of Swedish Death Metal and Beyond
  16. 1 2 3 SWEDISH DEATH METAL TONE
  17. ↑ Bloodbath: Blood Brothers
  18. ↑ Equipboard
  19. ↑ Baines, Huw (23 March 2023). "Introducing Heriot – the genre-agnostic saviours of British metal". Guitar.com . Archived from the original on 1 August 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-01.
  20. ↑ "Bassically Speacking: Ben Green, Godflesh". Bass Guitar : 15. February 2015. Archived from the original on 15 February 2016.
  21. ↑ Hawkins, Chris. "Interview: Alex Hellid of Entombed". antiheromagazine.com. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  22. 1 2 3 Boss HM-2
  23. ↑ BOSS HM-2W | The Legend Returns
  24. ↑ Dismember - Casket Garden (Robert Sennebäck Guitar Playthrough)
  25. ↑ Twitter
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.