Boss HM-2

Boss HM-2 was first issued in October 1983. It was originally manufactured in Japan from 1983 until 1988 and then in Taiwan from 1988 until 1991.[1] It was designed to emulate the mid-range response of the Marshall stacks.[2], Boss HM-2 is based on Boss DS-1. Despite achieving a moderate success in the glam metal scene, the pedal was discontinued in 1991; it was succeeded by Boss HM-3 Hyper Metal and Boss MT-2 Metal Zone, latter of which became a commercial success and Boss top selling pedal.[2]

Since its discontinuance, Boss HM-2 became one of the demanded pedals of the Boss back catalogue.[3] Different manufacturers have produced custom pedal clones to emulate its sound, the popular Boss HM-2 clones was Behringer Heavy Metal HM-300 and TC Electronic Eyemaster (named after Entombed song).[1][2] Guitarist and record producer Kurt Ballou has been cited as an influence for the pedal's resurgence[4] and bands such as Nails and Rotten Sound have also appropriated the pedal's sound for different extreme metal styles.[5]

In 2020, Boss Corporation president Yoshi Ikegami announced that the pedal would be reissued as a part of the Waza Craft pedal series under the name Boss HM-2w. For the reissue, the company also established a Facebook group to seek design feedback from the fanbase.[6][5] The prototype of Boss HM-2w has been tested by Ola Englund.

The Waza Craft version added standard and custom mode to the Boss HM-2w, like the Boss MT-2w (the upgraded version of the popular Boss MT-2 Metal Zone).

Boss HM-2 with maximum settings, this settings became well known in Swedish death metal scene to archive "Chainsaw" tone

The pedal is well known for its chainsaw tone when the settings of all knobs is maximum, invented by Leif Cuzner, band like Entombed, Dismember, Bloodbath are using this pedal for their main sound, many Swedish band using Boss HM-2 with Peavey amp to archive this sound. In the 1990s, the pedal attracted a cult following in the underground heavy metal scene due to its formative influence over the Swedish death metal sound.[7] Entombed's 1990 album, Left Hand Path, cemented its use in the scene.[6]

Boss HM-2 with Boss MT-2, this main pedal combination of Swedish melodic death metal, band like At the Gates and In Flames are using this pedal in the 1990s.

At the Gates's 1995 album, Slaughter of the Soul combined the Boss HM-2 with Boss MT-2 and Boss SD-1.

Many Boss HM-2 especially Made in Japan has been collected by guitarist of Entombed and Dismember.

The pedal still remains popular among Swedish guitarists.

According to Michael Astley-Brown of Guitar World, compared to the other distortion pedals, the pedal offered "radically versatile low and high ‘Color Mix’ EQ controls with 20 dB of boost/cut."[3]

Alex Hellid of Entombed in 2007

Ola Englund of The Haunted has own Boss HM-2 and Boss HM-2w

Notable users of the pedal include:

• Mika Aalto[8]
• Michael Amott[9]
• Anders Björler[10]
• David Blomqvist[2]
• Justin Broadrick[2]
• Uffe Cederlund[2][11]
• The Chemical Brothers (with a Juno-106)[12]
• Leif “Leffe” Cuzner[2]
• Nico Elgstrand[13]
• Niclas Engelin[14]
• Ola Englund[15]
• Per Eriksson[16]
• Euronymous[17]
• David Gilmour[2][5]
• G. C. Green[18]
• Alex Hellid[2][19]
• Christofer Johnsson[20]
• Todd Jones[2]
• Martin Larsson[21]
• Glenn Ljungström[22]
• Rabea Massaad[23]
• Guilherme Miranda[24]
• Anders Nyström[2]
• David Parland[25]
• Mike Schleibaum[26]
• Robert Sennebäck[27]
• Tomas Skogsberg[28]
• Jesper Strömblad[29]
• Dan Swanö[2]
• Kristian Wåhlin[30]
• Justin York[31]
• Kurt Ballou
• Bilinda Butcher
• Nocturno Culto
• Hamish Glencross
• James Sedwards

Wikimedia Commons has media related to BOSS HM-2 Heavy Metal.

• Official website