Boss HM-2w Waza Craft Heavy Metal

The Boss HM-2w Waza Craft Heavy Metal is an analog distortion pedal: a modern, made-in-Japan reissue of the Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal, the 1980s pedal that became the cornerstone of the Swedish death metal "buzzsaw" guitar sound¹²³. Boss brought the pedal back in 2021 as a special edition in its Waza Craft series, promising the tone of the original while adding a lower noise floor, 3 dB more output, an improved bypass buffer, and a second Custom mode⁴⁵².

The original HM-2 was a distortion pedal with tons of gain and a two-band "Color Mix" EQ that could boost or cut mids, and it became highly sought after for its Swedish death metal buzzsaw tone⁶. Premier Guitar's reviewer found the reissue delivers exactly that character: "scooped sizzle and doomy buzz saw harmonic saturation? It has loads of that on tap"².

What it does: the Swedish death metal buzzsaw

The HM-2's fame rests on a sound most players know from early Swedish death metal records: a heavily saturated, mid-scooped grind often described as a chainsaw or buzzsaw. TONEHOME calls the original HM-2 "the cornerstone of the Swedish death-metal 'buzzsaw' guitar sound, sporting tons of gain, coupled with the ability to boost or cut mids using the H Colour Mix" control⁶. Premier Guitar's buying guide put it simply: "Few pedals captured the sound of Swedish death metal like the HM-2"⁹.

The HM-2W recreates that character in the Standard mode. Premier Guitar's reviewer wrote that the pedal "does a great job re-creating the original Heavy Metal's chainsaw grind and, somehow, adds muscle and headroom for extended modern metal," calling it "a breed of proto-metal distortion in a league of its own"². The pedal is predisposed toward a scooped EQ profile, so it leans naturally into that voicing rather than fighting it².

Boss itself describes the pedal as the iconic stomp "reborn three decades later in a special Waza Craft edition," aiming to keep consistency with the original HM-2 sound⁴¹¹.

The controls: Level, Color Mix and Distortion

The control setup is faithful to the original HM-2's roots. There are four knobs: a Distortion control, a two-knob "Color Mix" EQ section with High and Low knobs, and a master output Level control²⁷. Guitar Pedal X lists the full control set as "Level, Lows - Color Mix - Highs, Distortion, Mode : Standard / Custom"⁸.

Premier Guitar's reviewer found that "the color mix knobs, while not super rangy, are effective at dialing in some variations"². The classic Swedish death metal approach pushes both EQ knobs hard while using the Distortion control sparingly, and the HM-2W's layout supports that same trick.

Standard and Custom modes

Like other Waza Craft models, the HM-2W has selectable modes for different sounds, chosen with a small slide switch on the crown of the pedal²¹².

• Standard mode (S): the original HM-2 voicing. Boss promises it delivers the tones and feel of the HM-2 with "100-percent authenticity"⁷. Premier Guitar's reviewer agreed: "The 'S' mode does a great job of copping the original tones"².
• Custom mode (C): Boss describes it as "a more aggressive sound variation with special Waza Craft tuning"⁴. It features a drive stage with increased gain and tweaked low and high-mids, for extra sharpness, fullness, and depth⁷.

Premier Guitar's buying guide summarizes the difference in practical terms: "Flip over to the custom mode for more tonal range, higher gain, and thicker low end"⁹. Delicious Audio describes the Custom mode as offering "a similar sound character to Standard mode, but with just a little more of everything," with more gain and extra attack and sharpness¹. Premier Guitar's reviewer called the C mode contemporary rather than simply more aggressive, noting it "adds gain, saturation, and punch, with just a little more push in the mids and some added upper-mid/treble bite," and named it their favorite mode².

How it differs from the original HM-2

The original HM-2 went out of production decades before the reissue. Sources disagree on exactly when: TONEHOME says Boss discontinued the model in 1993⁶, while Premier Guitar's review describes the original as manufactured from 1983 to 1991². Either way, the pedal was out of production for roughly three decades, during which original units became highly sought after².

The HM-2W is a meticulous reverse-engineering of Boss's own decades-old design¹³. Beyond the added Custom mode, the circuitry overhaul brings practical improvements over an original unit:

• A lower noise floor than the original²
• 3 dB more maximum output⁵²
• A premium Waza Craft buffer, for improved sound when the pedal is bypassed¹²

Premier Guitar's reviewer found the quieter operation changes how the pedal plays in practice: "The reduced noise helps explore those textures with a lot more confidence, too"². Guitar World's roundup of pedals from the 2020s summed up the reissue as recreating "the HM-2 to modern standards, with more volume, better buffering, and less noise"¹⁰.

The Waza Craft treatment followed the pattern Boss later applied to the DS-1W, taking a classic compact pedal and reissuing it in a made-in-Japan premium edition¹⁴³¹⁰.

Where it came from

Boss confirmed an HM-2 reissue was in the works in late 2020, with an official launch planned for the following year¹⁵. The Waza Craft Edition returned in July 2021¹⁶, with US availability from August 2021 at a list price of $179⁵⁷. By September 2021 the pedal was shipping¹. Premier Guitar's later buying guide listed it at $149.99⁹.

The reissue came after years of requests from HM-2 fans¹². Katatonia's Anders Nyström, interviewed by MusicRadar around the release, discussed the pedal's history and its return in "a new and enhanced Waza Craft HM-2W edition"¹⁷.

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