Silas Fernandes' Electric Eye Audio delivers superior solutions for enhanced and extended range high gain tones
Silas is a guitarist, composer and producer, Brazilian-born, but settled in Charlottesville, Virgina for some years now. He very originally conceived the idea for his Mud Killer tone enhancer pedal way back in 2012, while the route to market was far from straightforward, and involved a move to America within that - which meant that said pedal and brand as such did not emerge until 2020.
The first dedicated high gain tone shaper of that ilk to gain a degree of success and recognition was Horizon Effects' Precision Drive - while the origin point of the Mud Killer goes way back beyond that - and with a little more luck - that would have been the first proper breakthrough in that sector.
Metal players have long been using Tube Screamers to tighten up and enhance their metal tones - while the development of specifically High Gain Pedal Tools has been a slightly more recent evolution.
You could include the Airis Effects Savage Drive, Fortin 33, Highland Direwolf, and KHDK Ghoul Screamer also in that category - with all those brands too dedicating themselves to the high gain space. While for me the Mud Killer is still pretty distinct in its overall function and appeal.
Electric Eye followed up the Mud Killer with the Swedish Steel HM-2 take in 2021 - with additional Mid-band and Tight / Boost controls. And just last year they released their The Trasher dedicated Thrash Metal Distortion - with 3-Band EQ and 2 specially calibrated styles of boost.
I will be doing in-depth reviews of the Mud Killer and The Thrasher pedals shortly after this article - that is to say in following weeks. Where the key purpose of this particular article is really to introduce you to the range - in a somewhat brief and snap-shot summary fashion.
Silas is properly obsessed with attention to detail - with very exacting quality requirements - which you can see by how much thought goes into each device he designs and builds. He holds himself to a very high standard and demands the same of everyone else!
In some ways this is initially just a refresher for the Mud Killer - as pretty much everyone knows about it already - and so this is just here to remind everyone that it is still the best solution for the specific purpose of tightening up your high gain amp and distortion pedal tones.
The Swedish Steel and The Thrasher are somewhat newer propositions and require a little further introduction and definition - and while there are a number of pretty decent HM-2 pedals out there, there are very few pedals out there specifically dedicated to the art of Thrash Metal!
All 3 pedal types covered here are of course available for order from the Electric Eye Audio Webstore!
Here follow the further summary details with single most salient video demo on each of those 3 specialist pedal types :
Mud Killer Tightener, Tone Enhancer and Clarifier - $175 (Standard Green and Stealth Black Editions)
Controls - Tone (LPF), Post Gain, Pre Gain Off/On, Pre Gain Amount, Amp Remote : Close/Open, Mud Control (HPF <200Hz), Compression : Silicon/LED Clipping.
The ultimate High Gain Tightener and Tone Enhancer for amps and distortion pedals - with perfectly calibrated controls.
Swedish Steel Extended HM-2 style Death Metal Distortion - $169 (Standard and Orange +$10 Editions)
Controls - Level, Bass, Gain, Middle, Treble, Tight/Boost : On/Off, Tight, Boost.
Really smart extended range take on the HM-2 format with additional precision-calibrated Mid Band and interactive Tight & Boost controls.
The Thrasher 80's Thrash Metal High Gain Distortion with Dual Boost - $189 (Red and Black Editions)
Controls - Treble, Mids, Bass, Volume, Boost : New York (Tight Modern), Bay Area (Dark Classic), Gain.
Fantastic specialist Thrash Metal High Gain pedal with even more range and up to Nutz levels of Gain - brilliantly accentuated by two really smartly engineered boost modes.
