Best Pedals for Metalcore in 2026: What Gear You Need for the Brutal Sound of Architects, BMTH, and Others
Distortion, EQ, and Noise Gate!
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Best Pedals for Metalcore in 2026: What Gear You Need for the Brutal Sound of Architects, BMTH, and Others · Source: Gonzales Photo / Alamy
Brutal breakdowns that sound as precise as if they’d been spliced together in a DAW, earth-shattering riffs, and massive drums: modern metalcore is the metal sound of the moment. Today, we’re going to take a closer look at the best pedals for metalcore that bands like Architects, Bring Me the Horizon, or Parkway Drive use to achieve this sound.
Key Takeaways
- Modern metalcore lives and dies by distortion. The best pedals for metalcore need to clip hard, rumble low and scoop the mids.
- A fast, aggressive noise gate is non-negotiable. Those staccato, machine-tight riffs from Architects or Bring Me The Horizon only work when the gate snaps the signal shut between chugs.
- If you’d rather skip the pedalboard entirely, modelers like the Kemper or Neural DSP Quad Cortex ship with ready-made metalcore profiles and are what most of the big bands actually tour with.
- Gear is only half the equation. Downtuned or baritone guitars and active high-gain pickups (EMG, Fishman Fluence) do a lot of the heavy lifting.
The Best Pedals for Metalcore: Our Picks
Modern metalcore: What does it sound like?
Before you jump into the comments to lecture all of us on how we could have possibly forgotten this or that legendary band, this guide to the best pedals for metalcore is primarily aimed at those who are just getting started. So, you just discovered a few metalcore bands, you’re blown away by their heavy sound, and you must, must, must know how they get their guitar tone.
Metalcore, as it sounds today in bands like Architects or Bring Me The Horizon, isn’t unlike the thunderous nu-metal à la Korn. Distorted and clipped to the max with the mids almost completely cut out with an EQ pedal, the riffs are brutally cut off by a noise gate.
When it comes to guitars, baritone models are common, but you also see standard six-string models quite often. Tuned down, of course, until they start competing with the bassist. In addition, the pickups are typically swapped out for active high-gain models like those from EMG or Fishman Fluence.
And, as the many tutorials on YouTube clearly show, modern metalcore production often happens almost entirely “in the box”. Plug the guitar into your interface, load up a guitar plugin into a track in your DAW, and then, after recording, edit and cut the tracks together until the riffs sound almost mechanical.
Which Metalcore Pedals Do You Need?
As it is tradition in all realms of metal, metalcore’s tone is mainly about distortion. After all, we’re talking heavy metal here, not jazz or funk. Whether you need a particularly high-end pedal or not is something everyone has to decide for themselves. One important thing to keep in mind is that either the distortion pedal itself has a EQ, else you’ll need an EQ pedal next of it.
“Behind” all those face-melting riffs, there is often a much softer, blurry guitar tone woven into the sound as a contrast. So, a versatile reverb, delay, or ambient pedal for the second guitar might be the way to go. And of course, there are many all-in-one solutions for all of this: multi-effects pedals and modelers. Let’s check out some of the best pedals for metalcore!
The Best Pedals for Metalcore: Distortion
The most essential part of the metalcore guitar tone is distortion. You’re aiming for a tone that sounds heavy and aggressive, with a low-end rumble, piercing highs, and a somewhat mellow midrange.
Behringer UM300
As an entry-level option, the Behringer Ultra Metal UM300 is worth checking out at Thomann*. It features a three-band EQ, distortion and volume controls, and punches well above its weight! Given how good it sounds, the UM300 is the most affordable entry for the best pedals for metalcore.
Boss ML-2 Metal Core
Well, a pedal with a name like that has to be on a list of the best pedals for metalcore, right? But the ML-2 really packs a punch, too. Plus, it’s built like a tank, so you can take it on your endless van tours! It’s available at Thomann*
Solar Guitars Chug
Ola Englund’s own brand has scored quite a hit with the Chug. If you’re into that dark, galloping sound, the very “chugging” that gives metalcore its name and drives it relentlessly, just plug this pedal into your amp or interface, and let the action begin. Conveniently, it also comes with a noise gate! Get the Chug from Thomann*.
Empress Effects Heavy
Why settle for one distortion when you can have two? And from the prestigious Empress Effects, no less? The contender in our list of the best pedals for metalcore features two distortion voicings with separate midrange EQs. Plus, a built-in noise gate lets you create just about any sound you might need from a metalcore pedal. Available from Thomann*, the effectis one of the most versatile entries of the best pedals for metalcore list.
Noise Gates and EQs: The Best Pedals for Metalcore for Sound Shaping
If you haven’t chosen a pedal with a built-in noise gate or EQ, or if your metalcore pedalboard is still missing either of these, it’s about time you did! Your choice of a noise gate pedal should be able to cut off as aggressively as possible. And an EQ pedal should be able to attenuate the mids as effectively as possible, or boost the lows and highs.
Mooer Graphic G
The Mooer Graphic G is a graphic EQ that lets you cut or boost five bands: 100 Hz, 250 Hz, 630 Hz, 1.6 kHz, and 4 kHz. This covers exactly the midrange bands you need to tame to achieve that metalcore sound. The pedal is also super compact, and you can get it at Thomann*.
Source Audio SA 270
For quite a few pedal fans, the SE 270 – One Series EQ2 is the best (or at least the most versatile) EQ pedal on the market. Ten bands, each of which can be boosted or cut by up to 18 dB (!), loads of presets, a built-in noise gate. So if your tone changes from song to song, you can easily save and recall different EQ settings! Check it out at Thomann*.
Electro Harmonix Silencer
In principle, you could say that any noise gate would be suitable for metalcore pedals. However, the particularly choppy, rhythmic riffs call for some fine-tuning, such as a particularly fast release. The Silencer* from EHX offers just that.
Fortin Zuul+ Noise Gate
The Zuul+ is considered a classic among modern noise gates. It engages and disengages extremely quickly, sounds ultra-clean, yet subtle enough that every pluck is still audible. In addition, the gate can be triggered via an external signal using the Key-In-Out. Check out one of the best pedals for metalcore at Thomann*.
Multi-effects and Modelers for Metalcore
Anyone looking for a modern metalcore guitar tone will eventually turn to either Kemper or Quad Core. So it’s hardly surprising that these two brands, in particular, are favored by the players of Architects and many other metalcore bands. Architects guitarist Josh Middleton, for example, even offers his own Kemper profiles for sale. This is a great way to get especially close to that tone.
Kemper and Kemper Player
Whether you going for the compact Kemper Profiler Player* or straight for the mighty Profiler Head Mk2* depends on two factors: your budget and your needs. If you only gig a few times a year and don’t rehearse every week, the Player might be more than enough. Both offer a wide variety of metalcore profiles noise gates and EQs are also included.
Neural DSP Quad Coretex (Mini) und Nano Coretex
For most, if it’s not Kemper, it’s Neural DSP. there’s the Quad Coretex*, the larger, more versatile model packed with metalcore pedals, and Nano Coretex*. This is the smaller version, which might be sufficient for compact setups and occasional weekend gigs. Neural DSP also offers presets featuring the Architects’ sound available for download.
Conclusion
How do you achieve the metalcore sound? What are your secret tricks, and which pedals do you use to create those heavy riffs? Which “logical” pick for best pedals for metalcore did we miss?
Let us know in the comments!
FAQ on the Best Pedals for Metalcore
What pedals do I need for a metalcore sound?
At minimum, a high-gain distortion pedal and a tight noise gate. An EQ pedal to scoop the mids is the third piece that pulls the tone together.
What’s the best budget pedal for metalcore?
The Behringer UM300 Ultra Metal at around 29 € is the obvious entry point: three-band EQ, distortion and volume, and far more aggression than the price suggests.
Why is a noise gate so important for metalcore?
The genre’s rhythmic, palm-muted riffing needs silence between notes to sound tight. A gate with a fast, adjustable release cuts the tail of each chug, keeping the riffs percussive instead of turning into mush under all that gain.
Do I need a modeler like the Kemper or Neural DSP Quad Cortex?
No, but these modelers can make life easier. Both come loaded with metalcore-ready presets, built-in gates and EQs, and several bands (including Architects) sell their own profiles.
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