| Boss HM-2 | |
| Brand: | Boss |
| Manufacturer: | Roland Corporation |
| Dates: | 1983—1991 (Original) 2020—present (Waza Craft) |
| Price: | $90 (Original launch) |
| Effects Type: | Distortion pedal |
| Inputs: | mono |
| Outputs: | mono |
| Pedal Control: | Distortion (Dist), highs (H), lows (L), output volume (level), standard and custom mode (Waza Craft) |
The Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal is a distortion pedal manufactured by Boss from October 1983 until October 1991. Designed to emulate a Marshall stack, it became associated with Swedish death metal and gained a cult following in the heavy metal scene.
The 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. It was designed to emulate the mid-range response of a Marshall stack. The HM-2 is based on Boss's DS-1. Despite achieving moderate success in the glam metal scene, the pedal was discontinued in 1991; it was succeeded by the HM-3 Hyper Metal and MT-2 Metal Zone, the latter of which became a commercial success and top-selling Boss pedal.
Since its discontinuance, the HM-2 has become one of the most demanded pedals of the Boss back catalogue. Guitarist and record producer Kurt Ballou has been cited as an influence for the pedal's resurgence and bands such as Nails and Rotten Sound have also appropriated the pedal's sound for different extreme metal styles.
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. The prototype of the HM-2W was tested by Ola Englund. The Waza Craft version added standard and custom mode to the Boss HM-2W.
Leif Cuzner of Swedish death metal band Nihilist used the pedal with the controls "dimed," and bands like Entombed, Dismember, and Bloodbath followed suit. Many Swedish bands have used the HM-2 with a Peavey amp to achieve 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. Entombed's 1990 album, Left Hand Path, cemented its use in the scene.
At the Gates's 1995 album, Slaughter of the Soul, combined the Boss HM-2 with a Boss MT-2 and Boss SD-1.
Many HM-2 pedals, especially ones made in Japan, have been collected by the guitarists of Entombed and Dismember.
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."
Notable users of the pedal include:
