What Are The Best Metal IRs for Guitar Tone?

You’re hunting for the best metal IRs to finally nail that crushing, mix-ready guitar tone you hear on modern records. You’ve probably spent hours cycling through folders, auditioning cab after cab, and wondering why none of them sound quite right out of the box. This is a common frustration and often part of the bigger problem with modern metal guitar tone—relying on presets instead of shaping the sound.

Here’s the thing: asking “what’s the best metal IR?” is like asking “what’s the best guitar?” The answer is always… it depends. The perfect Impulse Response is the final, critical link in a chain. What truly makes an IR sound incredible is the performance and the signal you feed into it.

Before we even get to our favorite IR packs, we need to talk about what really defines modern heavy metal guitar. It’s not just about low tunings, amp sims, or even the IR itself. It’s about precision, control, and a new level of musicianship.

It Starts With the Performance: Your Ultimate Pre-EQ

We’ve all heard the saying “tone is in the hands,” and for modern metal, it’s really in the picking hand. The insane rhythmic clarity and tightness you hear from bands like Periphery, Meshuggah, or Architects isn’t just a production trick. It’s the result of relentless practice and superhuman rhythmic precision.

A sloppy, inconsistent DI track will make even the best metal IR sound like a flubby mess. A tight, aggressive, and dynamic performance, however, will make almost any decent IR sound powerful.

Before you spend another dollar on IRs, focus on this:

• Picking Hand Precision: Practice your down-picking, alternate picking, and gallops to a click religiously. Record yourself and visually check your transients in the DAW. Are they perfectly on the grid? This is non-negotiable.
• Muting Control: Learn to use both palm mutes for chugs and fret-hand muting to kill string noise. Modern high-gain tones are ruthless and will amplify every mistake. A clean DI is a powerful DI.
• Dynamic Consistency: The best players can execute complex, high-speed riffs while maintaining consistent velocity. This ensures that every note hits with the same authority, which is key for a tone that feels solid and not “spiky.”

This isn’t about gatekeeping; it’s about setting you up for success. When your performance is locked in, the gear can finally do its job.

The Signal Chain: What’s Feeding Your IR Loader?

Your IR is essentially a digital snapshot of a speaker cabinet, a microphone, and a room. But that’s only half the equation. The other half is the amp head providing the distortion and character. In the digital world, this is your amp simulator plugin.

The quality of your amp sim is just as important as the IR. You need something that can deliver the gain, saturation, and EQ-shaping capabilities that modern metal demands.

Some of our go-to amp sims that pair beautifully with high-quality IRs include:

• Neural DSP Archetypes: Whether it’s the Gojira, Petrucci, or Nolly, these Neural plugins are the industry standard for a reason. They provide an entire polished signal chain, but you can easily bypass their built-in cab sims to use your own third-party IRs.
• STL Tones: The Tonality series (Will Putney, Andy James) and the AmpHub subscription offer a massive palette of tones perfectly suited for heavy music.
• Bogren Digital Ampknob: If you want simple and devastatingly effective, the MLC Subzero 100 plugin is a one-knob wonder that delivers a mix-ready tone with minimal fuss.
• Real Amps + Load Box: Don’t forget the analog route! Running a real amp like a Peavey 5150/6505, EVH Stealth, or a Fortin Cali into a load box like a Universal Audio Ox, a Suhr Reactive Load, or a Two Notes Torpedo Captor X lets you capture your amp’s true character and pair it with any IR you want.

The Best Metal IRs: Our Top Picks for Modern Tones

Alright, your performance is tight and your amp sim is dialed in. Now, it’s time to choose your weapon. These are some of the IR creators that consistently deliver the goods for metal.

GGD (GetGood Drums)

Don’t let the name fool you. The team at GetGood Drums, co-founded by Periphery’s Adam “Nolly” Getgood, knows a thing or two about modern guitar tone. Their approach is all about providing expertly curated sounds in an intuitive package.

• Top Pack: The GGD Studio Cabs: Zilla Edition is a powerhouse. Captured by Nolly himself, it features a huge collection of Zilla Cabs—a go-to brand for modern metal—with various speaker and mic combinations.
• Why It Rips: Instead of giving you endless raw WAV files, GGD presents them in their own plugin, allowing you to quickly blend mics and cabs to find the perfect mix-ready sound without option paralysis. It’s a workflow-focused tool built on world-class tones.

Get the IRs from GGD

Odeholm Audio

Buster Odeholm is the producer and creative force behind some of the most forward-thinking and crushingly heavy bands in the scene (Humanity’s Last Breath, Vildhjarta, Thrown). His IRs are built for the extreme end of the modern metal spectrum.

• Top Pack: The TSE & IR Pack 1 contains the DNA of Buster’s signature sound. It features IRs he’s personally used on acclaimed records, including tones from Humanity’s Last Breath, Born Of Osiris, and Oceano.
• Why It Rips: These IRs are specifically designed to maintain clarity and punch in extremely low tunings. If you play in drop G, F, or even lower, this pack is essential for achieving definition amidst the brutality.

Get the IRs from Odeholm Audio

York Audio

York Audio has a reputation for creating incredibly well-balanced, mix-ready IRs that require very little post-EQ. Their packs are meticulously captured and just seem to work.

• Top Pack: The MES 212 V30 pack is an absolute monster. It captures a Mesa/Boogie Rectifier 2×12 cab with Celestion Vintage 30s. It has the perfect mid-range bite and low-end punch for everything from modern metalcore to thrash.
• Why It Rips: It gives you that tight, focused V30 sound without the harsh fizz that can plague other captures.

Get the IRs from York Audio

Bogren Digital

Jens Bogren is a titan of metal production (Opeth, Arch Enemy, Dimmu Borgir). His IRs carry his signature sound: massive, aggressive, but also clear and polished.

• Top Pack: The Jens Bogren Signature IR Pack: Rhythm is essential. It’s not just a collection of single mics; it’s a pack of Jens’s personal, perfectly blended multi-mic recipes that he uses on major label records.
• Why It Rips: It takes the guesswork out of blending. You load one file and get a sound that’s already 90% of the way to a final mix tone.

OwnHammer

OwnHammer was one of the OGs in the premium IR space, and their quality is still top-tier. Their library is vast, offering an almost overwhelming amount of options (in a good way).

• Top Pack: The (R)EVOLUTION GNR pack is a fan favorite. Based on a 1980s Marshall 1960B cabinet, it’s perfect for capturing that classic-but-modern aggressive rock and metal tone. For something more modern, the Heavy Hitters Collection is a gold mine.
• Why It Rips: The sheer number of mic and mix options gives you unparalleled control to find the exact character you’re looking for.

Get the IRs from Ownhammer

ML Sound Lab

Mikko from ML Sound Lab is another master of the craft. His “Best IR in the World” pack became a meme, but honestly, it’s not far from the truth.

• Top Pack: The ZILA pack, based on a Zilla Cabs Super Fatboy, is a modern metal staple. It’s thick, punchy, and perfect for down-tuned, percussive riffing.
• Why It Rips: ML Sound Lab IRs have a 3D quality and a “room feel” that makes them sound less sterile and more like a real, cranked amp.

Get the IRs from ML Sound Lab

Joey Sturgis Tones

Joey Sturgis is synonymous with the sound of 2010s metalcore, having produced seminal albums for bands like Asking Alexandria, The Devil Wears Prada, and Of Mice & Men. His IRs are tailor-made for that polished, aggressive, and in-your-face sound– but we’re obviously biased since he’s one of our cofounders.

• Top Pack: The JST Signature Series IR Packs, particularly his Conquer All packs, feature a collection of cabinets that defined an era of metal.
• Why It Rips: These IRs deliver a very specific, production-ready tone. They have a certain mid-range punch and top-end sheen that is perfect for helping guitars cut through a dense mix with synths and complex drum arrangements.

Get the IRs from Joey Sturgis Tones

Submission Audio

Submission Audio has carved out a name for itself in the hyper-modern, progressive metal, and djent space. Their philosophy centers on providing surgically precise, clean, and foundational tones that are ready for complex mixes.

• Top Pack: The Djinn Cab is a standout, featuring an oversized cab loaded with Creamback and V30 speakers. It was designed from the ground up for clarity and articulation in low tunings.
• Why It Rips: Submission IRs are incredibly “flat” and un-hyped in the best way possible. They provide a perfect, clean slate for EQ and processing, ensuring maximum note definition for intricate riffs and technical playing.

Get the IRs from Submission Audio

Valhallir

For those looking to step off the beaten path of Mesa/Marshall captures, Valhallir offers a boutique experience. They capture unique and rare cabinets with a focus on character and detail, using high-end and interesting microphone choices.

• Top Pack: The V2-Joker is a fantastic example of their work. It’s based on an Engl E412 but loaded with a creative blend of Celestion T75 and WGS Invader 50 speakers, offering a tone you won’t find anywhere else.
• Why It Rips: It’s all about unique flavor. Using a Valhallir IR can give your tone a distinct personality that helps it stand out from the sea of standard V30 sounds, while still delivering the aggression metal requires.

Get the IRs from Valhallir

How to Actually Use Metal IRs (Beyond Just Loading One)

Loading a single IR and calling it a day is a rookie move. The pros almost always use a combination of techniques to shape their IR tones into something unique and powerful.

Blend Two IRs

This is the most common and effective trick in the book. Use two separate IR loaders on your guitar track (or within a single loader that supports it, like NadIR or the one in most Neural DSP plugins).

1. IR #1 (The Body): Load an IR that has the low-mid punch and body you want. A Royer R-121 or a Shure SM7B capture often works well here.
2. IR #2 (The Bite): Load an IR with the aggressive mid-range and attack. This is where your classic Shure SM57 comes in.

Pan them slightly apart (e.g., 10L and 10R), and blend their volumes to taste. This gives you the best of both worlds: the weight of one mic with the clarity of another.

The Power of Post-IR EQ

An IR is a raw capture. It still needs to be sculpted to fit your mix. This is where you can apply some smart EQ moves to really make your tone shine. For a deep dive, you need to learn how to properly EQ metal guitars for a modern mix.

• High-Pass Filter (HPF): Cut everything below 80-120Hz. This removes unnecessary low-end rumble and makes room for the bass guitar.
• Low-Pass Filter (LPF): Cut everything above 8-12kHz. This is the secret to taming that nasty digital “fizz.” It removes the harsh, mosquito-like frequencies without sacrificing aggression.
• Surgical Cuts: Use a narrow Q to find and notch out any weird, honky, or resonant frequencies, often found between 300-500Hz.

Don’t Forget Compression

Compression after your IR can help glue the tone together and control the dynamics, especially the chuggy palm mutes. Multiband compression is particularly useful here. You can set a band to target only the low-end of the guitars (e.g., 100-250Hz) and apply compression just to that range. This tames the “woof” of palm mutes without squashing the rest of your tone.

Want to go further? Our page on Metal Compression Secrets has you covered.

Bringing It All Together

Finding the best metal IR isn’t about a magic bullet. It’s about building a chain of excellence:

1. Nail the Performance: Tightness and precision first.
2. Choose a Great Amp Sim: Feed your IR a quality signal.
3. Select a High-Quality IR: Use proven packs from creators like York Audio or Bogren Digital.
4. Process It: Blend multiple IRs and use smart post-EQ and compression to fit it into your mix.

Reading about these techniques is one thing. But seeing them applied by the producers who actually mixed your favorite albums is a complete game-changer.

At Nail The Mix, you get the real, raw multitracks from massive metal bands and watch world-class producers like Jens Bogren, Will Putney, and Andrew Wade mix them from scratch, explaining every single decision. You’ll see exactly how they choose IRs, blend them, and use EQ and compression to forge legendary guitar tones.

Ready to see how the pros do it? Unlock your sound and see what Nail The Mix is all about.