Electro-Harmonix goes unashamedly metal with its new Hell Melter Distortion pedal

Electro-Harmonix Hell Melter pedal
(Image credit: Electro-Harmonix)

E-HX has weighed into the world of the Boss Heavy Metal HM-2 (or what it calls the "chainsaw death metal" stompbox) with the Hell Melter Distortion. And it's got a Burn mode.

It's as vital as the name suggests – modifying the pedal's voltage and clipping options to drastically affect the kind of havoc it wreaks. Nice to see a Dry blend control here on a distortion pedal too. 

The Burn control can boost the internal voltage for increased headroom, less compression, and more attack. Gain and Level controls sit alongside active EQ featuring with parametric mids for dialling into the mix. There's an alternative Normal mode for more of a traditional HM-2 sound.  

That Dry level control allows players to blend their input signal – great for emphasising the low-end with a bass or combining with other drive pedals. 

The Boost footswitch is unsurprisingly an input gain and volume boost which is internally adjustable. 

Electro-Harmonix Hell Melter pedal

(Image credit: Electro-Harmonix)

The $176.66 (see what they did there?) Hell Melter has a current draw of 140mA and comes with a 9.6V 200mA power. 

More info at ehx.com

Rob Laing
Reviews Editor, GuitarWorld.com and MusicRadar guitars

Rob is the Reviews Editor for GuitarWorld.com and MusicRadar guitars, so spends most of his waking hours (and beyond) thinking about and trying the latest gear while making sure our reviews team is giving you thorough and honest tests of it. He's worked for guitar mags and sites as a writer and editor for nearly 20 years but still winces at the thought of restringing anything with a Floyd Rose.