Behringer HM300 vs Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal
The Behringer HM300 and the Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal are both pedals sharing saturated, full, aggressive. The Behringer HM300 leans mid-forward and high gain. The Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal leans bright and scooped. Current prices: $29.68 vs $100.
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Blended from circuit-archetype lineage, dynamic feel, tone-signal overlap and tone-vector distance — the tone vector itself is derived from editorial description text, not a measured acoustic signal, so this reflects how similarly the catalog copy describes the two, not a lab measurement. Shown only within a gear class, and only where there's enough evidence to be meaningful.50% — somewhat different
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Genres both listings are associated with.- Death Metal
- Metal
- Hard Rock
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Derived from overlapping tonal signals across both listings.- saturated
- full
- aggressive
Behringer HM300
Behringer · pedal
Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal
Boss · pedal
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Citation/mention fame — how often this gear is cited across artist rigs and gear discussion.$29.68via Reverb
$100via Reverb
The Behringer HM300 is a heavy metal distortion pedal modeled after the Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal circuit, famous for producing the extreme buzzsaw-like high-gain distortion associated with Swedish death metal. The HM-2 topology uses four distinct band controls covering high, low, and two mid frequencies, allowing extreme scooped mid voicings. Full saturation with all controls maximized produces the chainsaw wall of sound most closely associated with Swedish bands like Entombed and Dismember. At lower gain settings the HM300 provides 1980s-era metal rhythm tones. A budget alternative to the original Boss unit and boutique HM-2 clones.
The Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal is a distortion pedal known for a scooped, sizzling, buzzsaw-like saturation that, with all four knobs maxed, became the defining chainsaw tone of Swedish death metal. Entombed's 1990 debut Left Hand Path popularized this dimed HM-2 sound, and producer Tomas Skogsberg championed it at Sunlight Studios in Stockholm, where it also shaped the guitar tone of Dismember, Carnage, and Grotesque. At more moderate settings it can deliver milder, more usable distortion for mainstream rock and even shoegaze, but its real character and cult reputation come from the aggressive, harmonically dense, buzzing wall of gain at full saturation. It suits death metal and extreme metal players chasing that specific, instantly recognizable Sunlight Studios buzzsaw sound.
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Genres this gear is documented as being used in.- Alternative Rock
- Blues
- Shoegaze
- Rock
- mid-forward
- high gain
- bright
- scooped