Any guitarists out there looking to sculpt a tone for a niche sub-genre of metal, post hardcore or noise rock should take a deep, hard look at boutique pedal manufacture Lone Wolf Audio. This Austin-based shop (run by Joe Anastasio of now defunct Enormous Door Pedals) has been ramping up production as of late and offers a tailored array of impressive high gain distortion stompboxes.
They recently forayed into the world of amps (lookout for some Zappa clones coming soon) and just teamed up with guitarist/ producer Kurt Ballou of Massachusetts metalcore band Converge as their first spokesman, so looks like there are exciting days ahead on the frontier for the Texas boutique manufacturer.
We haven’t gotten the chance to test drive any of these bad boys yet, but having watched demos on the Black Mesa Distortion, the Left Hand Wrath, and the Overdose/Overload Octave Fuzz, it is quite evident that this designer has a focus on creating unique and nuanced pedals for the heavy guitarist.
All these pedals kick off a uniformly axe-wielding thirst for blood, but each with slightly differentiated functionality and tone. The Left Hand Wrath is modeled after the Boss HM2, uses similar vintage diodes, and gets a lot of references to Swedish death metal band Entombed. The Lone Wolf F.O.A.D. pedal appears to be designed for black metal; the Black Mesa Distortion aims for a differentiated Thrash/Crust sound; and the Overdose/Overload seems well-suited for any type of extreme metal.
By the sound of the three demos, all I really know is any of these pedals could take the paint off the walls in your practice room. These are thick, mean tones for anyone looking to play fast, technical hardcore guitar.
Check out the Overdose/Overload Demo below. – Ryan Dembinski
