Big sound, silent, quality knobs, the gate is effective and not too aggressive. EQ that opens up many possibilities by digging the mids and a "weight" knob that turns the pedal into a chug chug machine!

The Heavy Menace has three types of distortion, from the softest to the most chuggy, with adjustable gain for each. So at the softest of the lite(ish), you're comfortably rock, and at the strongest of the Heavyer, you're in very thick territory, like old school death metal. Added to this is a "Weight" knob that allows you to "shape" the sound to make it sharper (or clear or dry, depending on the term used). The equalizer responds very well to adjustment, probably requiring a bit of skill in use because the sound changes quickly when turning one or the other knob. I was amazed by the possibilities offered to sculpt the sound, partly because the knobs respond well to variations (it's subtle), and partly thanks to the very wide range of mid adjustment, which allows for a really substantial sound palette. Note that the sound is extremely high quality, there is absolutely no mushy effect because "it's distortion anyway, you can't hear anything." I avoided entry-level or even mid-price pedals because of that. On this pedal, on the contrary, the notes are very distinct even with a high distortion level in the heavier setting. The pedal is equipped with an adjustable noise gate, very appreciable. The price may seem substantial but is well worth it. Hard to find a flaw at the moment, I have nothing to reproach it for. Except maybe that it convinced me to look for a new amp with a much cleaner clean channel...