Back in 1991, BOSS unleashed the now-controversial Metal Zone — the stompbox that housed more over-the-top high-gain distortion than any competing product at the time. The BOSS 30th Anniversary Metal Zone celebrates three decades of this iconic pedalboard classic, boasting the same dial-stage gain circuit along with an eye-grabbing grayscale color scheme that’s guaranteed to attract attention.
You also get the original pedal’s oft-abused 3-band semi-parametric EQ, which provides ±15dB of boost or cut for surgical sonic sculpting. The BOSS Metal Zone is a classic — just about every budding metal guitarist has plugged one of these distortion pedals into a solid-state practice amp, dimed the gain, and massacred “Smoke on the Water.” That said, this hyper-aggressive stomp continues to make its way onto countless pro-level pedalboards as well. If you’re aiming for insane, ultra-saturated high-gain tones, there’s nothing else like the Metal Zone.
Bothners tip: Try plugging the Metal Zone directly into your amp’s effects return — it makes a killer preamp-in-a-box.
The BOSS Metal Zone stimulates a lot of heated back and forth on the interwebs. But here’s the truth: the Metal Zone is a solid-sounding distortion box, provided you use intelligent gain and EQ settings. Speaking of EQ, this pedal’s super-powerful semi-parametric EQ features +/-15dB of boost or cut, which can be abused — grossly abused. Scooping your mids by -15dB does not sound like “Master of Puppets” and cranking your highs by +15dB is only good for re-creating the sound of angry hornets. Remember, subtlety is the key. With conservative settings, the Metal Zone can really deliver the goods.
