Walrus Audio Melee Wall Of Noise Reverb/Distortion Pedal

Walrus Audio Melee Wall Of Noise Reverb/Distortion Pedal Overview

The Walrus Audio Melee is a highly-interactive, shoegaze-ready effects pedal that combines a high-gain distortion with reverb. Outfitted with a tactile joystick, The Melee: Wall of Noise is the perfect hybrid stompbox for guitarists who want to make a big sonic statement.

The Melee is a hybrid distortion and reverb pedal from renowned pedal builder Walrus Audio. This pedal is capable of generating ethereal washes, crushing walls of sound, evocative textures, pure filth and more by combining these two quintessential guitar effects. Walrus Audio also give you the option to alternate the signal chain and choose whether the distortion runs into the reverb or vice versa with the flick of a toggle switch. The Melee can take on a dramatically different personality depending on how you order the effects.

Tactile Joystick

In addition to its singular sound, what makes the Melee stand out from the rest is how inspiring it is to interact with. Looking at the pedal for the first time, you’ll instantly notice the tactile joystick. This arcade-style control allows you to manipulate the amount of distortion by moving it up and down as well as the reverb mix by moving it left and right. With this joystick at your fingertips, exploring the depths of the Melee is effortless fun.

Simple & Effective

On top of the D>R | R>D switch, there are two more three-position toggle switches that can be used to sculpt the Melee’s sound. The Tone switch controls the tone of both the distortion and reverb, ranging from normal to darker to brighter. The Decay switch affects the reverb’s decay time, with minimum, medium and max decay modes. Holding down the bypass and adjusting the Decay toggle introduces modulation or feedback amount when in Reverse Reverb mode.

3 Reverb Algorithms

The Walrus Audio Melee features three distinct reverb modes - Ambient Reverb (massive reverb capable of long trials, perfect for aggressive soundscapes, shoegaze-y chord progressions and lush lead lines), Octave Down Reverb (similar to the Dark mode in the Walrus Audio Slö reverb pedal, suited to dark and atmospheric textures) and Reverse Reverb with feedback (ranges from gentle reverse trails to feedback-driven chaos).

Changing between the three reverb programs can be done on-the-fly by pressing the bypass and sustain switches at the same time.

Ramp Up & Latching Reverb

Walrus Audio equip their Melee effects pedal with a sustain switch that can introduce an element of excitement to a performance. First, you can press and hold the sustain switch to gradually ramp the reverb’s trails. Releasing the switch will ramp the trails down to where the decay switch is set. Pressing and releasing the sustain switch captures and sustains the current reverb decay to create a pad-like texture underneath your guitar tone.