Lichtlaerm Medusa | Distortion

In Lichtlaerm’s words:

The Medusa is the successor of the probably most infamous pedal we created during Lichtlaerm’s first life: the Breathe//Die. As a collaboration with local Berlin band Breathe//Die, it was the first HM-2 style pedal to feature a noise reduction circuit, a boost and an extended feature set in a compact enclosure. These sold out within days and subsequently went on the used market for up to 600USD!

As it’s been one of the most requested pedals for us to bring back to life, we decided to not just re-launch, but re-design the circuit to give you even more flexibility and the most cohesive package on the market! We took the first design and moved the boost into the core circuit, resulting in up to three times the gain the classic chainsaw pedal offers you, while also allowing you in to use our well-known cut control to shape the low end and create punchy palm mutes that the original was never capable of.

We also increased the output immensely because… well, why not? With great power comes great responsibility: Meaning with all the gain and high output volume, you can’t avoid a certain level of noise. That’s why we added a full version of our Key & Gate into the circuit, being triggered from the input like you’d do with modern noise gates and placed behind the loop, so anything you blend with the Medusa profits from the gate as well.

Loop? Yes! Like our King in Yellow, we decided to add a parallel FX loop to the Medusa that allows you to blend her gnarly distortion with any other device: distortion, boost, overdrive or even the preamp of your favorite tube amp - or just leave the loop empty and use it as a clean blend. Of course you can invert the phase of the loop to avoid phase cancellations or create interesting out-of-phase sounds.

We decided to keep the traditional HM-2 EQ bands named low & grind to give you easy access to the well known grind-y sounds we all love, but added a parallel mids control (200-700hz) and a shelving high filter to add or tame presence. Due to this presence control, the Medusa also lends itself perfectly to being used as a preamp!

Last but not least, we decided to throw in another switchable gain section: more modern, louder, more mid focused. So now you can decide between the filthy distortion of the black/orange box made famous in Sweden, or a modern in-your-face kind of saturation that still has access to the infamous EQ of the HM-2.