The Medusa is the successor of the probably most infamous pedal created during Lichtlaerm's first life: the Breathe//Die. As a collaboration with local Berlin band “Breathe//Die,” it was the first HM2-style pedal to feature a noise reduction circuit, 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 to bring back to life, the decision was made to not just re-launch but redesign the circuit to provide even more flexibility and the most cohesive package on the market! The first design was taken and the boost moved into the core circuit, resulting in up to three times the gain the classic chainsaw pedal offers, while also allowing the use of the well-known cut control to shape the low end and create punchy palm mutes that the original was never capable of. The output was also immensely increased because… well: why not?

With great power comes great responsibility: meaning with all the gain and high output volume, a certain level of noise is unavoidable. That’s why a full version of the Key & Gate was added into the circuit: being triggered from the input like modern noise gates and placed behind the loop so anything blended with the Medusa profits from the gate as well. Loop? Yes! Like the King in Yellow, a parallel fx-loop was added to Medusa, allowing blending her gnarly distortion with any other device: distortion, boost, overdrive, or even the preamp of a favorite tube amp - or just leave the loop empty and use it as a clean blend. Of course, the phase of the loop can be inverted to avoid phase cancellations or create interesting out-of-phase sounds.

The traditional HM2 EQ bands named low & grind were kept to provide easy access to the well-known grindy sounds, but a parallel mids control (200-700hz) and a shelving high filter were added to add or tame presence. Due to this Presence control, the Medusa also lends itself perfectly to being used as a preamp! Finally, another switchable gain section was added: more modern, louder, more mid-focused. Now, the choice is 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 HM2.

Of course, as always: all these features are put in the same compact box with an amazing artwork made of real gold by the outstanding Kasia Jasmina! Get yours today and start tearing down walls and melting faces!

For a detailed description of the controls, please refer to the manual.

Features:

• Lichtlaerm Audio Smart Relay technology
• Swedish Death Metal distortion
• 2 distinct, switchable gain stages
• Extremely high output, more than twice as much gain as the original
• 4-band EQ with parametric mids
• Full blackmer-vca noise gate
• Lichtlaerm-proprietary “cut”-control
• Parallel fx-loop with polarity switch