Tortured blackened death metal machine WITHERED is now revealing a signature distortion pedal! Guitarist Mike Thompson has teamed up with Michael Klein Audio Design out of Kansas City, MO to build a signature distortion pedal named "Husk," which is designed for all the tone stackers out there.
Thompson explains, "I've been crafting my tone for two decades now. Our knack for style hopping provides unique tonal challenges for me. I need crushing lows for the huge riffs and clarity during blasting grind and black metal passages. It gets really tricky and has been a battle. I've chipped away at getting the best of both for years and it resulted in an amalgam of unorthodox gear combinations. I've had a design in mind for years to combine everything into one cohesive pedal but never the time to realize it. Mentioning this Sammy Duet (Acid Bath, Goatwhore) resulting in an introduction to Michael Klein. It turns out Michael is quite familiar with Withered's studio tones. We discussed the ideas and he was very confident in nailing down my ideas. He picked the name 'Husk' after a song on 'Grief Relic,' which was the first time my 'realized tone' was recorded in purity, without tricks. Husk is everything I'd hoped for and then some. I call it my 'Swede-ish' tone. You get a bit of that chainsaw mid scoop that's usable across all heavy endeavors without being a 1 trick pony."
Thompson also designed the cosmetics himself, combining a vintage military feel with an ethereal/mystic graphics to capture the "moods" of the pedal.
Husk Features:
- Selectable "then" (NOS Japanese 1S1588) and "now" clipping diodes to choose between saturation used on older Withered albums and newer albums.
- The bottom row of knobs are a circuit inspired by the classic MIJ DS-1 with high quality/low tolerance components - precision metal film resistors, WIMA caps, MLCC caps, and Nichicon Fine Gold capacitors supporting a Toshiba TA7136P Opamp.
- The top row is Thompson's collection of "do my bidding" controls: a clean blend to pepper in some clarity without losing gain, an output boost to keep the dirty tone louder than "pedal off" tone no matter how much you scoop the mids, and a no-fucks-given low pass filter to tame the nastiness however you like.
- 2 different colored "on" LED's for a "military control panel" look and max visibility on stage.
ICYMI: Artist Paul Romano (MASTODON, HATE ETERNAL, etc.) gave an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the unique album art for 'Verloren!' Both Romano and WITHERED vocalist/guitarist Mike Thompson give in-depth interviews about the concept, working together, and more in this detailed article, which is accompanied by an exclusive video clip and photos! Check it out via Heaviest of Art at THIS LOCATION.
Line-up
Beau Brandon – Drums
Dan Caycedo – Vocals, Guitars
Rafay Nabeel – Bass Guitar
Mike Thompson – Vocals, Guitar
Links:
https://withered.bandcamp.com/merch
https://www.facebook.com/witheredmetal
https://twitter.com/WITHEREDMETAL
https://www.instagram.com/witheredmetal/
