After making the black metal demo tape, I've decided to create some death metal that sounds really old-school.
Can anyone help me with figuring out the guitar tones of bands like Obituary, Asphyx and Autopsy?
Cheers

Digitech Death metal.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-1vcuKcXeI

Now on a more serious tone , any decent distortion pedal will work as long as you turn the gain knob close to maximum and scoop the mids on the pedal/amp/whatever (you turn the mid frequencies down, and bass and treble you turn up, especially bass). If you do that, you will get a great "old school" extreme metal sound, if you hold the gain back just a bit it will sound like early Slayer/Metallica, and if you crank it almost all the way it will sound a lot like Obituary. I never tried this myself but it's highly probable the more you crank the mid back up the more "modern" it will sound.

As a general idea, any pedal that's better than Behringer/Harley Benton and has a lot of gain should be enough for you as a beginner. Stuff like the Digitech Death Metal (which doesn't even have a gain knob, the gain is always at maximum), Marshall Jackhammer, other Digitechs, Boss MetalCore, Boss DS-1, etc.

I had a Boss Ds-1 for awhile before it fried, I found that it was a pretty useless pedal, I could get all the effects on my amp, and ended up not even using the pedal half the time.

Written by Valentin B on 19.07.2012 at 14:47
Digitech Death Metal

Yeah, I saw that one in a store. Is it that good?
Thanks for the help

Written by Oaken on 14.08.2012 at 23:18

Written by Valentin B on 19.07.2012 at 14:47
Digitech Death Metal

Yeah, I saw that one in a store. Is it that good?
Thanks for the help

If you don't plan on recording professionally any time soon that is a great choice. The only problem is because the gain is always at maximum, it probably is noisy.

Written by Valentin B on 14.08.2012 at 23:25

Written by Oaken on 14.08.2012 at 23:18

Written by Valentin B on 19.07.2012 at 14:47
Digitech Death Metal

Yeah, I saw that one in a store. Is it that good?
Thanks for the help

If you don't plan on recording professionally any time soon that is a great choice. The only problem is because the gain is always at maximum, it probably is noisy.

The gain issue isn't a problem for me, because I got another effect pedal that I can use for less distorted or clean parts.

OD pedal, 5150, tube screamer....and it will set you back around 1250, but it will be very worth it.

If you want to sound like Obituary you are going to need to tune to D standard. That's how they get those awesome "chugs."

If you want an Autopsy or swede sound like Entombed, Grave, Dismember etc... you need to go to C standard and really crank on the buzzsaw sound.

If you don't have a 100 watt Marshall, Mesa, or whatever...the Boss Metal Zone will give you good chugs, and nothing beats the Boss Heavy Metal for buzzsaw...but they're getting really hard to find and spendy...

BOSS HM-2 is the pedal to have for OSDM/Swedeath like Dismember, Asphyx, or Entombed as well as newer acts like Hail Of Bullets, Binah, Puteraeon, etc. etc. Hail Of Bullets plays in B standard.

Also - all knobs turned up to full (or very close to it).

Written by Misfit74 on 14.10.2012 at 04:38

Also - all knobs turned up to full (or very close to it).

actually full for the Swede DM sound. If you read the book by Akeroth called Swedish Death Metal all the bands say that

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 14.10.2012 at 11:58

Written by Misfit74 on 14.10.2012 at 04:38

Also - all knobs turned up to full (or very close to it).

actually full for the Swede DM sound. If you read the book by Akeroth called Swedish Death Metal all the bands say that

That is correct. There is also a video out describing the pedal and how to use it floating around, by Entombed's guitarist, IIRC. However, full brings a lot of noise with it and it can be slightly toned down (and I do mean slightly) by going just shy of full on a knob or two.

Written by Misfit74 on 14.10.2012 at 20:48

it can be slightly toned down (and I do mean slightly) by going just shy of full on a knob or two.

Fuck that, if you want that buzzsaw, it's every knob to 11!

Trust me, I own one!

Written by Branzig on 15.10.2012 at 07:01

it's every knob to 11!

Damnit, I was going to make that joke

Written by Branzig on 15.10.2012 at 07:01

Written by Misfit74 on 14.10.2012 at 20:48

it can be slightly toned down (and I do mean slightly) by going just shy of full on a knob or two.

Fuck that, if you want that buzzsaw, it's every knob to 11!

Trust me, I own one!

I own one too.

11 is one loudah.

That said, I sometimes run it through the FX loop of my POD X3 Live and can minimize noise while putting back tone from the multi-effects processor. I've had some success using dual tone setups with the HM-2 in the loop and in front of the X3. Ultimately, all knobs to 10 is the proper way to do it, but it can be tinkered with depending on your setup/gear.

I have a question on this topic,

I have a Marshall Valvestate 8100 amp and I really need something to boost the gain to get a satisfying death metal tone. So I do know that the Boss HM-2 does the trick BUT it's very hard to come by. I was wondering if an Ibanez TubeScreamer would suffice soundwise or if I should go for something else like the Boss Metal Zone or even something like an overdrive pedal.

I'm using an Epiphone Les Paul Custom with stock pickups (plan to change them soon).
It'd be lovely to get some information on how I can work with what I have.

If you have some information on this for me, please let me know!
Cheers

Written by Nunslayer on 03.12.2012 at 14:24

I have a question on this topic,

I have a Marshall Valvestate 8100 amp and I really need something to boost the gain to get a satisfying death metal tone. So I do know that the Boss HM-2 does the trick BUT it's very hard to come by. I was wondering if an Ibanez TubeScreamer would suffice soundwise or if I should go for something else like the Boss Metal Zone or even something like an overdrive pedal.

I'm using an Epiphone Les Paul Custom with stock pickups (plan to change them soon).
It'd be lovely to get some information on how I can work with what I have.

If you have some information on this for me, please let me know!
Cheers

I see you're from Iceland. Check out your fellow countrymen and women from Angist and their old school death metal. Is that the tone you're after?
http://angisttheband.bandcamp.com/

more links to sites of theirs:
http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Angist/3540317699

the band is from Reykjavik, maybe they can further help you out?

I have a boss "Heavy Metal" pedal, and with all knobs turned to max in conjunction with my marshall half-stack the tone is sex. I'm pretty sure Alex Hellid, the guys from Grave, and Asphyx use the same pedal, the tone I get is pretty much the same as the tone from Left Hand Path

Written by Alex F on 03.12.2012 at 15:40

the tone I get is pretty much the same as the tone from Left Hand Path

I need this pedal.

Written by Boxcar Willy on 07.12.2012 at 14:51

Written by Alex F on 03.12.2012 at 15:40

the tone I get is pretty much the same as the tone from Left Hand Path

I need this pedal.

I'm sure you can find it on ebay, that's where I got it. It's absolutely 100% worth it