Audio Damage Kombinat Tri $49
At its heart, this is a multiband distortion with a choice of flavours per band, although there’s more than meets the synopsis. Kombinat Tri’s 13 types of distortion cover the usual clipping, saturation, fuzz and whatnot, but you’ll also find bitcrushing – which is slightly unintuitive but still destructive as hell – and an octaver, which is great to see in a multiband setup. The idea is to choose up to three distortions to combine in parallel or serial configuration through the multiband crossover network. The serial mode still employs the crossovers, sending the signal through the highest, then the mid, then the lowest. After the multiband network, there’s a Feedback control, a ‘Kompressor’ and a master filter. This specific set of parameters is restrained without being limiting, giving you the tools you need to mangle your input without going overboard with mouse clicks. This isn’t just a guitar distortion, it’s a sound-mangler for all seasons, and an experimental effer-upper that will give you unexpected results, time and time again. audiodamage.com VERDICT 9.2