Best Metal Guitar Pedals (2024 Update)

If you play between the boundaries of Metal to Hard Rock, you will love this pedal! I've own this pedal for years and it has made some eyes pop and gotten me compliments from all sorts of Musicians to include professional ones. Its very versatile and can literally make any rig scream! Even very simple setups like a decent solid state amp and a cheap guitar.I found That really clean amps like Fenders, and Rolands can really make this baby shine due to its high gain and very distorted nature. This pedal is very responsive and has so much attack its insane. The other cool thing about this pedal is the built in noise gate which really helps clean up the hiss of the gain. it also has a mids scoop similar to the signature Dime distortion pedal. This definitely beats all pedals similar to it like the Boss Metal zone, the T-rex bloody mary, Dime Distortion and many other famous pedals. I love howthis pedal has can get many famous sounds like Randy Rhoads, Disturbed, Pantera, Early metallica, All That Remains, Ratt, Van Halen, Godsmack, and more. The only thing about it that some people may not like is that the pedal does have a little bit more controls than average ones and that its high gain maybe too much for some. However I found that if you roll the gain down and mess with the frequency knob and equilizers, you can get a more Crunchy overdrive sound. This pedal literally brings my rig to life and I can't find anything wrong with it. Definitely recommend getting it.Buckshot1894

This pedal is a one trick pony – brutal sounding heavy metal. It can run the gauntlet of thrash, modern, nu, and classic metal – everything from old school Dio and 1980s Metallica to Pantera to Trivium to Avenged Sevenfold. It can scoop the mids out entirely for the dry … And Justice for All sound with the push of a button while the push of another button can enable a nice percussive sound and prevent any bleedthrough of extraneous sound. Using mids dial on this pedal is not a bad thing … it shouldn't be turned down unless specifically needed for a certain sound. Mine is actually set around the 1 o'clock position. Where care needs to be used is actually with the low and especially the high (where it can sound like an annoying chain saw if turned up). Take time and care with dialing in the sound. It is easy to get a brutal sound if used properly and not the high pitched awful whine that you might find on demo videos on YouTube. Definitely recommend using this pedal on the clean channel. Boosting it with an overdrive pedal isn't necessary or useful.JGB

Overall: I have been using my tried and true Boss Metal Zone into a Boss 7 band EQ for a few decades. I had been looking at getting the Waza Craft Metal Zone before my old Metal Zone takes a dump on me, but I also wanted to see what else is out there. I watched a video review of the MXR Fullbore Distortion and was impressed, but not enough to buy one. Well! My fiance took care of that for me and ordered it for me as a surprise. I plugged it in right away the day it got here. I plugged it into my 7 band EQ. I kinda gave it a half ass listen and wasn't impressed. I picked it back up and figured I would exchange it for a noise gate as that is what I needed more. It sat there for a week or so and I decided to give it another chance. I plugged straight in to the front of my half stack and used a suggested setting I found online. I had to back off on my maps EQ across the board and just tweak it. What I heard was something that sounded familiar and new at the same time. I cranked it up and tried the on board noise gate and it works great! Basically it's a distortion, EQ and a noise gate in one pedal. I tried my old set up side by side with this pedal and the fact that this one pedal eliminated 2 other pedals in the chain was what finally sold me. I love this thing. It likes high gain pickups. My Strat with a Seymour Duncan TB 6 Distortion in the bridge sounds like a flame thrower! Distortion is a very personal thing. Not everybody will love it. So far everybody who has listened to me says that it sounds insane, badass, etc. For the music I play it fits. It's an all around sound I can use on everything I cover on guitar. To me that's the goal to have one sound do it all. I'm very happy that I kept it and gave it another try. One thing to remember is that with this pedal it's okay to back everything down and especially on your amp. Usually I would put everything in the middle and adjust my Distortion and EQ around that. With this pedal I have the amp's EQ, everything on 2-3. This could be the Distortion sound your looking for.Jon

I found one cheap and used and bought it with no preconceived notions. This pedal chugs and grinds in its own unique way. Not like a Bogner Red, Wampler Triple Wreck, or HK Warp Drive (all great pedals). You can play dissonant chords and it will evenly drive each note (A Vox Satchurator does this too, but the Metal Core has INSANE amounts of usable bass). I play through two 4×12's with V30's and G12T100's and it THUMPS! Turn down the gain and it backs down and lightens up. Works great with delay/time based effects.DaveMan

You can get every pedal in the world and BOSS is just going to tear them up and be the ones you want to go back to. The BOSS ml-2 is simply that distortion pedal you are looking for to carry you over the top in sustaining notes feeling like you're playing on butter, yet ripping that growling crunching chug you want to push thru the mix. Try using it also with a overdrive pedal and turning the ml2 distortion level down to about 7.5. Then use the overdrive to kick it back in for your leads. It truly out does the metal zone even thru the effects loop as I run the mt-2. Buy this bad boy! You will not regret it!nancy_acker77

THE ML-2 METAL CORE IS… BOSS IN "BEAST MODE!!!" Hands down my favorite "Metal" Distortion pedal by Boss. They got everything right on this one. Deep thundering distortion that's up in your face. It's a very modern sound that's very defined yet clean enough to enjoy. I'm probably one of just a few who happen to own every distortion and medal pedal made by Boss. Each were designed for specific tones in the search for that perfect sound. While some are lacking to be honest numerous are very good. The ML-2 "Metalcore" is great. If you like the MT-2 "Metal Zone", you'll love this Beast! It's the sound I always wanted but couldn't quite dial in. If you're into Hard & Heavy hitting metal music, it's certainly worth checking out. I like it so much I own 3 to have on all my pedal boards. It'll be the pedal everyone looks back on to purchase years from now when they're discontinued.kt.precisio-7

i cant believe Musicians Friend is restricting a word that is used in a product they sell. Replace ** with ff The Metal Mu** gave me the sound I was looking for. I have a Marshall DSl40c and an LTD EC401 and they rock. However, when the pedal is disengaged, there was little to no volume, so if I wanted a clean sound, I had to unplug my guitar from the pedal and plug it into the amp directly. I emailed EHX about the issue, they said it was a sensor issue and to return it to MF. I have returned the unit and I am waiting on my replacement. The return was painless, as I expected it would be, can't wait to get my replacement.Kyle E

Great for a pedal into a decent clean. Settings are touchy tho; makes it a little tricky to dial it in at first, but once you get a feel for it, it's not so bad. Go against your intuition to crank it; it seems to prefer being restrained. Otherwise, lots of different tones; very versatile. Seems to prefer passive pickups; my active's get a little screechy and bring out that "pedal-ly" tone, whereas the passives give a more organic sound. It's not as good as plugging straight into a Peavy, Randall or Boogie or something. A pedal never will be. But as far as a pedal into a clean amp goes.. you can get some pretty satisfying "high gain but still natural sounding" tones. Without the price tag of a high gain stack. Basically it's the sweetest pedal distortion i've played. Such a range of sounds that you can dial into nearly any amp, guitar or situation. But yeah, don't expect it to sound like you're plugged into a satan. It's more for an all purpose rig that you want to get some brutal metal out of. Also, I got some cool stuff out of it by plugging it into my FX loop.. but i usually keep it in front of the amp as it's a more versatile position. On my H&K you can use it as a boost into the lead channel, but it breaks up pretty easily, gets real noisy, and actually sounds way more brutal into the clean channel. My eq pedal works better as a boost into the amp distortion. By the way, a noise gate comes in handy. Also a Wah after the pedal.. makes things interesting.Kenny

Well not to do a life story I am the lead guitarist, in a giging punk band. for the last year and a half been trying to find a good tone at such a loud volume. So I settled on a mxr full bore metal pedal. And a lbr boost from electro hanmonix. Now the mxr is a good pedal, however when combined with the boos thats where trouble began. when i hit the boost for very short modest solos, it is punk, it would take all the bottom end out with a huge shot of mid range. I tweeked and turned till the cows cane home nothin. now with the metal miff, with the top boost saved the day. I was worried it would just flood me with treble and sound very bad not so. Also it eliminates have to get a boost pedal all together. GET ONE!!Drew

This is the amazing Boss DS-1 distortion pedal, loved by all who use it. Amazing value at just £55. I won't bore you with stories about how robust it is, because we all know Boss equipment lasts forever. It looks and feels great, but most importantly, sounds incredible. I play punk rock, and with my Gibson SG Special, plugged into my Marshall JCM 900 this delivers exactly the sound I want. I loved that in the manual it gives example sound setting, one of which was British Punk. That just made me smile. I knew instantly it was right up my street. Oh, and if you're into electronics, this thing is made of pin-through-hole components, so it leaves it open for a good bit of modding. There are plenty of guides for that online. Sitting in my Boss BCB-30 pedal board this never fails to make me smile.Thomas B.

Now I don't hate it, but Its not my first go to pedal. I like the more modern BOSS "Metal Core". It is however like all BOSS PEDALS built like a tank, extremely reliable and a great first pedal. For the money, this is a super value. I found that I like it for "Gain Stacking" in combination with the BOSS MD-2"Mega Distortion" and a few other pedals. Even two DS-1 DISTORTION together improve the performance to me. Overall it's not terrible and I see were for some it could really be a price but I lean towards Heavy… Heavy Metal and for that it's more a corvette when you need a Lamborghini. Do I hate it, NO… I actually own two of them.kt.precisio-7

I have a 60w Fender Deville amp. Lovely clean sounds straight from the amp but couldn't really use the overdrive channel without the volume getting to an inconsiderate level at home. This pedal has addressed that issue really well. This pedal now provides me really raunchy distortion while providing a greater control for volume. The pedal also provides a nice boost in changing between a clean channel directly from the amp and then through the pedal. Very pleased with this investment, particularly for the price. Very easy to use.Gregory H.

I am into classic rock, pop rock and blues, however, in my youth I was totally into Metal (i.e. Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Scorpions, Iron Maiden) lately I've been having the urge to play some heavy metal tunes I played when I was young, so I decided to purchase a metal distortion pedal for my smaller rigs around the house, I have many overdrives and distortion pedals but other than some of my amps at high volumes I had nothing good for heavy metal at acceptable volume levels. I came across this little Rage, I was not familiar with Mooer, and thought I will give one a try..in the 12 O'clock or greater setting the Rage has outclassed them in the tone department, there is not nasally/tin type noise which the others had, for the price of the Rage I was fully intending to return it thinking I would get the same results, the eq is very responsive and with the gain at noon or higher the pedal cleans up very well. Anyway, money well spent, I have been playing songs I haven't played in years due to not getting a acceptable tone at lower volumes. I was willing to pay much more money for what I was looking for, this little gem flipped the bill at a low cost.themanfromalabam

I have limited experience with compressors but I really like this pedal. I found my boss compressor pedal coloured the sound too much (too thin) and my JOYO dyna compressor far too subtle (and the attack knob seemed to be totally ineffectual). But the Mooer pedal is great – you can really hear the compression working, it is quite transparent as has been suggested in reviews and the tone knob gives a good range from bass to treble. It's small size makes it a bit difficult to affix to my pedal board – not much surface area to apply the Velcro to – but this is only a small niggle (it is a small pedal after all!). At the price I definitely recommend this pedal.Alan

This is my 1st Mooer – so I'm always a bit cautious when I'm laying bread down on a new manufacturer product – it was on Stupid Deal & I was in need of a heavier distortion as all in my arsenal (until this pedal) are "cleaner" types. A: I was surprised at the pedals range – it's more than metal B: Works great with a variety of guitars, both single coil & humbucker. I'm very satisfied after several weeks of putting the Rage Machine through a variety of scenarios. Nice product.Beerman

i wanted to compare this to my boss hm-2 pedal but i can't get to it at this time, so i'll have to do this by itself. this is a very nice distortion pedal. again the plastic casing is durable and inexpensive ,so you're getting a good pedal for the money.the level and distortion controls are sensitive- i consider a plus. i do wish there was more bass in the in the low frequency control. now you might be asking, "why don't i cut back on the high frequency control?". here's why : the high frequency control appears to be a combination high frequency/gain control! the more you turn it up, the more gain. combined with the sensitive dist/level controls this is a nice feature if you want that. i like it . i can always boost the bass on the amp/EQ/whatever. i like to use different dimensions of distortions and if you are like me ,i recommend this.thurstonnalley

I guess I'm more of a roady/studio guy than I am an artist, as I've always got more out of turning knobs then actually playing music lol. I bought this pedal for one reason and one sound only. The Swedish "chainsaw" guitar tone of the 90's that came out of Sunlight Studios that was popularized by bands like Entombed and Dismembered. I think it sounds incredibly good considering I bought it NEW for 25 bones plus shipping! The distortion is sometimes a bit over the top, but cleans up when you roll back the volume knobs on the guitar. I imagine you could really get some interesting tones going if you paired this pedal with a compressor and eq both before and after it in the signal chain (and with Behringer that's actually an affordable option), and of course, a tube amp, as most of the bands with that sound supposedly used Peavey 5150 tube heads. Very nasty distortion pedal, if you could travel back in time to the 90's you could probably sell this to a metal head for absolutely ridiculous amounts of money. If you are not buying this pedal for a certain "Swedish death metal" sound or just metal in general, I would not recommend this pedal, as there are probably much better pedals out there for what you need. Its made out of plastic which I personally don't mind, as I'm not a touring or gigging musician. If I stomped on it several times a night for half a year I dunno how that would work out. Not a big fan of the color, but then again, I didn't buy this pedal for aesthetic value. Behringer makes great stuff for less, I plan on buying a lot more Behringer pedals in the future!James the studio guy

I put this pedal in front of my DSL and I understand all the negative reviews. For whatever reason, this pedal shines in the effects loop. Run on the clean channel through the effects loop, it sounds amazing. You can achieve practically any quality Metal Tone you desire. It's adds another dimension / channel if you will, to my amp. I have clean, overdrive and the Metal Zone!!! I have amps with no effects loop and this pedal does not bond with amps like that.Robert, L

Its the original high gain amp in a box. If you cant get a good sound from it- then you havent spent enough time tweaking the EQ. And also useful as a boost in front of your amp distortion channel if you turn the pedal distortion all the way down and level up. Again- spend time tweaking those EQ knobs, theres a few sweet spots in there. Of course nothing sounds better than amp distortion, but when you need a portable amp in a box, this is the original. And combined with a portable pre amp pedal, you can travel light with this.ddon1513_xp0o28mv

I LOOOOOOOVE THIS PEDAL!!!! I was searching for years for this right distortion that was clear but still heavy and it definitely didn't disappoint!!Nikki Nalepa

A balanced metal distortion with a tight crisp sound. Not overly harsh like a lot of pedals, but maybe not enough bite if you want an extreme sound. The boost modes and tone controls a low for a nice variety of sound options. It takes time to dial everything in but Im surprised by how much character this pedal has. I read a lot of reviews and watched videos looking for something that was metal but balanced and this is spot on. Note that it does not have an internal battery compartment, you will need a power supply.Old metalhead

First things first, this thing is tiny, and it is POWERFUL. I don't think I've ever had the gain past noon, because I've never needed to. My amp is by no means a super high gain monster (EL84 circuit, 1×12 combo), but this pedal makes it one. For the kind of stuff I like to play (80s thrash, early death metal), I think it does a really good job. Between the three switch positions and a really flexible tone knob, you can get a really wide range of usable tones with it. When I showed it to my brother (a much better player than me, with a lot better gear), he was astonished when I told him the price. I almost had to pry him away from the thing. If there are complaints to be had, I have to echo one of the previous reviews in saying that the hi-boost adds almost too much highs to be useful. But I guess if you switch to a neck pickup and roll off the tone, it can be okay. If this one breaks (hopefully not), I'll definitely replace it with more of the same.Eric

This thing is nuts. Dialed at 9 and stacked with a fuzz, you can get a really nice bassy growl. At between 9-12, it sounds like an amp pushed to the limit, and past that it's basically just pure Model T chaos. A niche overdrive/volume pedal that serves it's intended purpose very, very well.Zack

(Using it on bass) They were not kidding that this little box is loud! Anything past 12 o'clock and expect it to rumble your place. Love the tone it gives my bass, even around 9 o'clock it gives it a sweet sound and love to stack it with either my fuzz pedal or overdrive pedal and a spring reverb for a nice surf punk sound. For a single knob pedal, its one of the best for sure, if you love your music loud, this one is definitely for you!JUAN

This pedal where do I start! After going thru tons of Fuzz pedals and Muffs I finally found the be all end all. From Way Huge to EHX to the JHS mini foot and more. Just remember there is some volume drops between fuzz types. Not an issue when you stick to one for a song. I prefer the JHS setting myself. I had wanted one since it came out and when I finally got it I kicked myself for not getting one sooner. Works great one bass and guitar! And if you put a tube screamer in front watch out! Buy one today you will not regret it!Vic

Does the job well, when paired with a Tube Screamer (a need for me, otherwise sounded quite hissy)! A good distortion pedal for heavier metal riffs and very good value for money for me. Looks to be built like a tank, and sounds like a beast too.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

First, I have to admit, I'm a pedal junky. Not Sorry. I got this pedal on a whim to use up some backstage points. I planned to put it on a b board which is much smaller than my main board. This pedal takes up quite a bit of space due to its large footprint. If you are looking for a compact distortion pedal, you may want to keep looking. It's about the same size as some way huge pedals I have. I have one other TC box (HOF mini) and I think that is an awesome pedal. At first, I wasn't too stoked on the tone of this pedal. I eventually found some tones that I felt were usable. The thing that surprised me most was the mid scoop switch. I am not a "scoop the mids" metal guy, but to me, this pedal sounds best in the scooped or fat position. I thought I would like the raw position, but after the first day, I don't think I've used it in the raw setting. I think it works best in conjunction with a boost or overdrive pedal. If this is your first effect of this type, you may like it right off the bat, but if you are a little more experienced and really know how you want to shape your tone, you may find it a bit limited in its tone shaping abilities. All in all, for the price, it's a decent distortion. Always nice to have choices. Probably a good pick for those of us on a budget, or players just getting into using effects, but if you are a pro, really picky about your sound, or have a ton of cash, there are better boxes out there. I would reluctantly recommend. It's kinda like licorice, some people will love it, others will not.MCL

Although I haven't played professionally for several years, I still know a good piece of equipment when I check it out. I think that one would be hard pressed to find a better sounding pedal in this price range and there's enough overdrive for pretty much anything. The real surprise is that it has the versatility to clean up very well allowing the tone of your guitar to shine through in a natural manner for blues/rock etc. where you'd just like a little clip going on. I haven't had this pedal long enough to attest to the reliability on down the road, but am very happy with it performance wise at this time.Technodog

EBS makes quality pedals in general, although there does seem to be an occasional tendency for switches to fail (quality control?). This is a nice pedal to add some dirt and grind to your sound. It is not a high gain pedal, so if looking for more metal type sound the MetalDrive may be your huckleberry. I use this in a worship team at times to add some edge but without a lot of gain. On my pedal board in the studio I have a lot of other gain pedals ranging from slight overdrive/fuzz to higher gain such as the YYZ pedal from Tech21 and also an EBS MetalDive. This pedal falls in between them. It's not noisy, and has traditional EQ points that EBS uses for Bass. Simple to use. I prefer the Tube Sim setting with low gain to warm up the sound and add some edge.alaskanblues

I do like the combo of distortion/preamp boost, but it wasnt super quiet… I found the Ibanez tube screamer to be quieter and better suited to my sound for Live performancesSteve

Sound quality and price are pretty good for the money, but it's not that well thought out logistically. No psu supplied and doesn't work on battery or a powerbank (not mine at least). The jewel is blindingly bright and means it's impossible to read the other controls which are pale writing on gold, so not distinct anyway. The boost operates incrementally so if you only have a bit of break up on the first channel you can't go to a full overdrive on the second channel. I prefer the system on the Blackstar HT Dual where the two channels are completely independent. It may do what you want, and it has it's uses if you already have a good hi gain channel 2 on your amp, but it's also got its limitations. Slightly disappointing.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

This pedal is really more of a punk distortion pedal and it requires power. I swapped it out with a Boss BD-2 Blues Driver pedal that is battery powered and has a blues tube distortion sound. The BD-2 is better for buskering than the Fender MTG Tube Distortion Pedal.Ryan

Sounds good. very practical tool if you want to cary a small pedal board you can fit in your hand. Great for connecting to your interface to record ideas for demos. The cab sim is good. I find it abit dark sounding but the eq fixes it. Comes in adurable metal shasi you dont have to worry about it breaking and even comes with it's own power supply which is great for this price point. The affects are controlled by a mix level- Agreat solution to saving realestate. Dirt starts with Gilmorish over drive up to hair metal and everything in between. A tap tempo and an aditional overdrive would have made it aperfect pedal but it's great as it is considerring the price point. I would recomend it to any guitar player or producer.tamikere0

Amazing pedal! These are the four main "guitar hero" effects. Pros. Clean Boost. Crunchy Distortion! Shimmery Chorus ~ A perfect Delay! Included Power Supply!!! Cons. Honestly I can't think of any. Get this pedal!!!cindepeterso0

Easy to use, nice chorus, nice reverb, delay is a bit touchy and difficult to adjust on the fly. The distortion is pretty good..when you engage the button, I get a lot of noise through my amp. I thought it may be a bad cable, but I have tried several cables including two brand new monster cables.same thing. Other than that, the pedal is fine. Does anyone have a suggestion about the noise issue? It is extremely annoying.gandkconn19461947

Sounds great,boss ds1x gives you distortion without losing the sound of witch ever guitar you are using and plenty of distortion if you need itReviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I have playing guitar for over 20 years. This is a totally new distortion for me. I have tried several others that were excellent, like some MXRs, this is even better I think. I have had the DS-1 in the past but then I upgraded to the Boss Metalzone MT2 and the Boss MetalCore ML2. Both excellent buy more metal. You can play rock, metal, blues, almost anything with the Boss DS-1X. The high and low have a wide range. The Distortion control changes the contour also adds more treble/high as it goes up. At lower values you can use it with split humbuckers or two single coils for very crunchy TS9 boosted over drive SRV type tones. This is what I like about this. Great sound with neck and brigde humbuckers and split coils. In my setup i use Evolution7, Deactivator pickups. As you play up to higher frets, the sound stays thick very smooth. On low strings it stays relevant, without being boomy. the sound morphs in sutbtle ways if you play to very low strings. it is a totally new effect, not just a distortion.NoNickName1

As I transition from PODs to stomp boxes, this is the first distortion I buy. The online reviews are good. I recommend Pete Thorn's sound test as it's a demonstration in detail. After trying it out myself I cannot but agree with everyone. It's NOT a improvement of the old DS-1. It's a whole new beast! Sounds great, responsive, good dynamics, clear low end (not muddy) and sweet high end (not screaming). What more could you want? It makes me wanna buy the OD-1X too!Rickrock