it's definitley the most hated popular dirt box. completely unusable tone for any genre IMO. just out of sheer determination one day, i took my friend's metal zone and tweaked it for 2 hours in 3 different amps with no success.
i LOVE thrash metal, but i don't equate maximum distortion to good tone. any time i hear a metal band with this overly distorted, fuzzy, gritty, nasty scooped guitar sound, it distracts me too much to enjoy the rest of it. having "brutal metal tone" doesn't mean using the most distortion possible.
BUT.... out of sheer curiosity and open-mindedness, i kinda wanna hear a better recording. other than the recording quality, it didnt sound bad.
here are some examples of metal tone with just enough(and the right kind of) distortion while maintaining definition and clarity.
and pretty much everything ola englund plays. lol