Boss Heavy Metal-2, abbreviated as Boss HM-2, is a guitar

distortion pedal Distortion and overdrive are forms of audio signal processing used to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments, usually by increasing their gain (electronics), gain, producing a "fuzzy", "growling", or "gritty" tone. Distort ...

manufactured by Boss Corporation, Boss between 1983 and 1991. Designed to emulate Marshall Amplification, Marshall Guitar amplifier#Stacks, stacks, it became associated with the Swedish death metal sound and gained a cult following in the Heavy metal subculture, heavy metal scene.

Background and influence

Boss HM-2 was first issued in 1983. It was originally manufactured in Japan and then in Taiwan. It was designed to emulate the Mid-range speaker, mid-range response of the Marshall Amplification, Marshall Guitar amplifier#Stacks, stacks. According to Michael Astley-Brown of ''Guitar World'', compared to the other distortion pedals, the pedal offered "radically versatile low and high ‘Color Mix’ Equalization (audio), EQ controls with 20 Decibel, dB of boost/cut." Despite achieving a moderate success in the glam metal scene, the pedal was discontinued in 1991; it was succeeded by Boss HM-3 Hyper Metal and Boss MT-2 Metal Zone, latter of which became a commercial success. In the 1990s, the pedal attracted a cult following in the Underground music, underground heavy metal music, heavy metal scene due to its formative influence over the Swedish death metal sound. Entombed (band), Entombed's 1990 album, ''Left Hand Path (album), Left Hand Path'', cemented its use in the scene; the pedal is often used with its settings set to maximum to achieve a "buzz saw" sound. It is often referred to as "Swedish Chainsaw" by its fanbase. Since its discontinuance, Boss HM-2 became one of the demanded pedals of the Boss back catalogue. Different manufacturers have produced custom pedal clones to emulate its sound. Guitarist and record producer Kurt Ballou has been cited as an influence for the pedal's resurgence and bands such as Nails (band), Nails and Rotten Sound have also appropriated the pedal's sound for different extreme metal styles. 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.

Notable users

Notable users of the pedal include: * Dismember (band), David Blomqvist * Justin Broadrick * The Chemical Brothers (with a Roland Juno-106, Juno-106) * Entombed (band), Uffe Cederlund * Nihilist (band), Leif “Leffe” Cuzner * David Gilmour * G. C. Green * Entombed (band), Alex Hellid * Nails (band), Todd Jones * Anders Nyström * Dan Swanö * Bilinda Butcher * James Sedwards

References

External links

* {{Roland Corporation Effects units Boss Corporation Japanese inventions Japanese musical instruments Musical instruments invented in the 1980s Death metal