In my experiences, Toneforge blows other amp simulation software out of the water. Basically ‘simplify’ the plugin to what it does best! If JST were to focus on these two stages and introduce something like more speaker/cab impulse options, they’d have a really formidable product here. The Amp and Cab stage are quite brilliant and deliver some ‘really’ chunky metal sounds with loads of bite and attitude. For me the front and back end stages of this plugin don’t really do it any favors. You can get a tremendous amount of grunt from Menace and if you’re into brutal metal sounds then you’re probably going to love this. That thing is high gain! Menace doesn’t really to pretend to be anything else so it’s doing exactly what it says on the tin. I found when Menace is doing the thing it does well, it really does deliver in spades. With the amp Gain down, you can get a nice ‘just past’ crunch tone out of Menace too. Crisp distorted rhythm parts that have great note definition and some fantastically smooth high-gain lead tones come out of this thing. Now, I know I’ve been a bit harsh on some aspects of Menace but when you just use the Amp part it’s ‘really’ nice to play through. I did a bit of recording with Menace and I ended up just using the Amp and Cab section for the most part. This adds a thickening effect and should just be left on and hidden from the UI. There’s one called ‘Magic’ that when unchecked just doesn’t do Menace any favors either. Clicking on Signal Path open a page where you can disable stages. Other features here are a Noise Gate which does a good job.

Joey sturgis toneforge menace kickass