At the Gates Metal Zone Settings?

[Gutwrencher]

Hey, guys! I’m starting a new black metal band soon, and I want to use the AtG SotS tone (even though that album was melodeath and not black metal). However, I can’t find anything on the internet about the Metal Zone settings used for it. I find plenty of info on the HM-2, but that’s not what I’m looking for. AtG used both pedals and panned each of them on either side. Can y’all help me? It’d be much appreciated.

[SkyMonkey]

Re: At the Gates Metal Zone Settings?

Not familiar with At The Gates but have looked up the SotS track on YT.

A couple of things could help you get your answer. Which speaker on SotS is the MT-2? What other equipment do AtG use? What equipment do you use? Do you need a clean sound too?

I have only very recently bought an MT-2 myself. I am running it through the FX return of a Marshall Valvestate VS65R (my backup amp for 4CM stereo or visiting mates). Most of my guitars have high output bridge H/bs (X2N, JB, etc.). I have managed to get a very distorted tone that suits my style, but still has room for tweaking.

What I am finding out is that the MT-2 is VERY sensitive to even the smallest changes in EQ, especially the MID and MID Freq. Even the smallest shift in MID Freq changes the tone markedly. Also the lack of dial points around the knobs makes setting descriptions fairly hard to accurately describe, but I will give you the approximate settings I use.

Level: As you like.
Low: Nearly 2 O'clock.
High: Nearly 2 O'clock.
Mid Freq: 10 O'clock.
Mid: Just past 11 O'clock.
Dist: 4 O'clock. (dial back as per your taste)

I think the tone I am getting is similar to the AtG sound you are after (but what do I know), but this is with my amp and my guitar with my pickups (Your Method WILL Vary).

Also, by going directly into the FX return I have bypassed all the preamps and EQ sections on the amp. This does not leave many options to dial in a clean tone, with only MV and reverb left on my amp (actually, not even MV. I have to control volume with the FX mix knob). For what I am doing with this pedal at the moment, no clean is OK.

I have also got a DSL40CR running with a BOSS GT-100 in 4CM, and am getting around to trying the MT-2 as last in the FX loop to try switching between the MT-2 and clean patches (tricky tap dancing?). I could use it in the GT-100 FX loop alone and switch the loop on and off with the GT, but that means ditching 4CM.

Good luck Gutwrencher.

(p.s. the MT-2 simulation on the GT-100 is very close to the actual MT-2 (I was curious, which made me get an MT-2 second hand), and somewhat easier to dial in with fewer tone controls to tweak).

[Gutwrencher]

Re: At the Gates Metal Zone Settings?

AtG used some Celestions (they didn’t specify which, but my guess is Vintage 30s) with 2 of the speakers being broken. They used 2 custom cabinets, one 2x12 and one 2x10. They also used a Peavey Supreme 160 head. Thankfully, for my new band, I don’t need a clean sound. I’m gonna be using a guitar loaded with SD Black Winters going into the MT-2 as a boost (like AtG did) into an Orange Micro Dark into a Harley Benton 2x12 with one V30 and one Heavy Creamback. Although I might do the FX Return method like you mentioned if I want to sound a little more modern. I appreciate your help and input!

[DankStar]

Re: At the Gates Metal Zone Settings?

This is the most detail I’ve come across about it but they don’t say specifically. In fact Tomas says you could have all the knobs set the same but a lot of the sound is Anders:

16 min in: https://youtu.be/Xfv1EcQ532w

My 2 cents: if you have a metal zone and a HM pedal just play around and find whatcha like. The only thing that might take some tweaking time would be the mids on the metal zone.

[NegativeEase]

Re: At the Gates Metal Zone Settings?

don't forget that your guitar setup -especially string height, string tension, pickup height affect a lot of the initial attack sound that you are hearing on ATG SOTS -and really any detuned metal record. -I've engineered a lot of doom/black/sludge etc metal records -especially during this time period and often tweaking the amount of passive fret interaction (buzz) and pickup height is what nailed the subtle aggressive attack tone the band was looking for which made the OD/Fuzz and Distortion sound much more exciting.

[SkyMonkey]

Re: At the Gates Metal Zone Settings?

Do you have access to a looper pedal? This can speed up dialling in the MT-2. Record a riff. Then sit and tweak hands free till you get the tone. You can even try the same riff in the front and in the FX return if you can keep the loop going when rewiring (usually by not unplugging the looper pedal from its in/out cables).

BTW if you haven't see this vid yet (unlikely) check it out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxRe99Tjlwg

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: At the Gates Metal Zone Settings?

I once got a Metal Zone expecting to get close to the Slaughter of the Soul tone. I failed miserably. No matter how much I tweaked, it just never got close.

Honestly, I feel that tone is all about the interaction between the HM-2 and the MT-2 as well as the 10 and 12" speakers. The tone on that record is pretty unique, and IMO, it's a combination of many things.

AFAIK, the Metal Zone wasn't used as a boost, though. I suspect the HM-2 was the boost going into the MT-2 here, but even with the gain set to 0, both the MT-2 and HM-2 have plenty of grit going on.

Man, I love the tone on that record too, but I think it's not very easy to emulate with just the MT-2 by itself.

[dave74]

Re: At the Gates Metal Zone Settings?

I once got a Metal Zone expecting to get close to the Slaughter of the Soul tone. I failed miserably. No matter how much I tweaked, it just never got close.

Honestly, I feel that tone is all about the interaction between the HM-2 and the MT-2 as well as the 10 and 12" speakers. The tone on that record is pretty unique, and IMO, it's a combination of many things.

AFAIK, the Metal Zone wasn't used as a boost, though. I suspect the HM-2 was the boost going into the MT-2 here, but even with the gain set to 0, both the MT-2 and HM-2 have plenty of grit going on.

Man, I love the tone on that record too, but I think it's not very easy to emulate with just the MT-2 by itself.

Yep that hm2 as a boost really helps thicken the mids of the mt2. Very sick sounding for those of us into such tones.