The 9 WEIRDEST Plugins Ever Made

Your plugin folder is probably a mess. We get it. It’s packed with dozens of EQs, 17 different 1176 emulations, and that one weird phaser you downloaded for free in 2014 and never touched. The rabbit hole of plugin acquisition syndrome is real, and it’s easy to get convinced that the next shiny tool is the one that will finally make your mixes slam.

Here’s the truth: it’s not the plugin, it's the person using it. Your skills, your ears, and your decisions matter infinitely more than whether you use FabFilter Pro-Q 3 or your DAW’s stock EQ. A killer engineer can make a killer mix with the bare essentials. Just ask any of the world-class Nail The Mix instructors who could probably get a better sound with a stock compressor than most of us could with a rack of vintage hardware.

But… that doesn't mean all plugins are created equal. While most EQs and compressors do a similar job, sometimes you need a tool that thinks differently. A plugin that isn’t just for surgical cuts or gentle glue, but for pure creative destruction, sonic problem-solving, or adding a texture you can’t get anywhere else.

These are the weird ones. The sonic Swiss Army knives and absolute manglers that can break you out of a creative rut. Here are some of our favorites that are genuinely useful for heavy music.

1. Soundtoys Devil-Loc Deluxe

What it is

An audio-level destroyer based on the old Shure Level-Loc. It’s a gnarly, aggressive, pumping compressor and distortion unit that has two simple knobs: "Crush" (compression) and "Crunch" (distortion).

Why it’s weird

This isn’t your polite VCA bus compressor. It’s designed to be pushed to its absolute breaking point. At extreme settings, it sounds like your speakers are literally tearing apart, adding insane grit, harmonic distortion, and a wild pumping effect. The "Darkness" knob controls the tone, letting you go from bright and crunchy to dark and sludgy.

How to use it in a metal mix

Parallel drums. This is the classic move. Send your drum bus to an aux track, slap Devil-Loc Deluxe on it, and absolutely CRANK the Crush and Crunch knobs. Set the “Release” to slow for a pumping, breathing effect, or fast for pure grit. Blend this aux track back in under your main drum bus. You’ll get the weight and aggression of a heavily distorted signal without sacrificing the punch and clarity of your main drums. It’s a fantastic way to add energy and size, not unlike Kris Crummett’s automation trick for aggressive drums.

2. Oeksound Soothe2

What it is

A dynamic resonance suppressor. In simple terms, it listens to your audio, identifies harsh or painful frequencies in real-time, and automatically dips them just enough to take the edge off.

Why it’s weird

Unlike a static EQ where you find a frequency and cut it permanently, Soothe2 is dynamic. It only works when the problem frequency is actually happening. It’s like having thousands of tiny, impossibly fast notch EQs working only when needed, a similar philosophy to tools designed to transparently tame problem frequencies. This lets you tame harshness without making your tone sound dull or lifeless.

How to use it in a metal mix

This thing is a lifesaver for modern metal tones.

• Taming Cymbal Wash: Got a drummer who loves to smash cymbals? Soothe2 on the overheads or the drum bus can calm that harsh sizzle without losing the high-end air.
• De-fizzing Guitars: High-gain guitar tones often have a nasty "fizz" around 5-10kHz. Instead of carving it out with a static EQ and losing aggression, let Soothe2 dynamically tame it. Check out our guide on EQing modern metal guitars for more on tackling fizz.
• Harsh Vocals: Perfect for smoothing out piercing screams that have too much energy in the 2-4kHz range.

3. iZotope Trash 2

What it is

The king of digital distortion and audio mangling. It’s a multi-band distortion unit that lets you choose from dozens of distortion algorithms, apply different types to different frequency bands, and then run it through filters, convolution (speaker impulses), and dynamics.

Why it’s weird

The sheer level of control is insane. Want to add subtle tube saturation to your bass frequencies, run your mids through a fuzzy bitcrusher, and put a crackly vinyl effect on your highs? You can do that. It’s a sound designer’s dream masquerading as a distortion plugin.

How to use it in a metal mix

• Electronic Textures: Create insane drum loops, distorted synth basses, or glitchy vocal effects from any source audio.
• Re-amping Bass: Use it on a DI bass signal to create a custom distortion tone that perfectly complements your guitars.
• Vocal Parallel Distortion: Send your harsh vocals to an aux track, filter out the lows and highs, and run what’s left through Trash 2 to create a focused, aggressive midrange distortion you can blend in for clarity and bite. It’s a fantastic application of parallel distortion on screaming vocals.

4. Valhalla Supermassive

What it is

A free reverb and delay plugin that is capable of creating absolutely colossal spaces, swirling delays, and otherworldly textures.

Why it’s weird

It’s not designed to emulate a real room. It’s designed to sound unreal. With modes like "Lyra," "Capricorn," and "Great Annihilator," you can generate evolving reverbs that last for minutes and delays that warp and pitch-shift into infinity. The "WARP" control adds a unique smeary, detuned quality that’s unlike any other effect.

How to use it in a metal mix

• Ambient Intros/Outros: Automate the mix knob to wash out a final guitar chord or create a massive soundscape for an intro.
• Vocal Throws: Send just the last word of a vocal phrase to Supermassive on a long, spacious setting for a dramatic echo effect.
• Synth Pads: Turn a simple synth pad into a vast, evolving texture that can sit underneath a heavy section to add depth and atmosphere.

5. Cableguys ShaperBox 3

What it is

A multi-effects plugin where every parameter can be modulated by a custom-drawable LFO. It includes modules for filtering (FilterShaper), volume (VolumeShaper), panning (PanShaper), distortion (DriveShaper), and more.

Why it’s weird

The “weirdness” is in the rhythm. You can draw in any rhythmic pattern you want and have it control your audio. Want a stuttering volume effect perfectly in time with your 16th-note kick pattern? Just draw it in. Want a filter to sweep up and down in a triplet rhythm? Easy.

How to use it in a metal mix

• Sidechaining Synths/Pads: Use VolumeShaper to automatically duck a synth pad every time the kick drum hits, creating that modern, pumping electronic feel without setting up a complex sidechain compressor.
• Rhythmic Gating: Put it on a sustained guitar chord and use VolumeShaper to create a choppy, rhythmic riff.
• Creative Filtering: Use FilterShaper on a drum loop or ambient texture to create rhythmic filter sweeps that add movement and excitement.

6. Glitchmachines Fracture XT

What it is

A patchable buffer effect, granular processor, and stutter effect. It basically records a small chunk of incoming audio into a buffer and then lets you mangle it in a million different ways.

Why it’s weird

This is pure sonic chaos in a plugin. It’s designed for creating complex, robotic, and glitchy sounds. It’s not for subtle enhancement; it’s for total transformation.

How to use it in a metal mix

This is your go-to for adding modern electronic and industrial elements.

• Transitions: Automate it to turn a sustained guitar note or cymbal crash into a stuttery, glitchy riser leading into the next section.
• Drum Effects: Use it on a drum fill to create a robotic, chopped-up effect that sounds completely inhuman.
• Vocal Stutters: Isolate a single scream or word and let Fracture XT turn it into a rhythmic, percussive element.

7. Unfiltered Audio Dent 2

What it is

A hyper-aggressive distortion plugin that goes way beyond typical saturation. It offers multiple clipping types and a wild modulation system that lets you create some truly unique tones.

Why it’s weird

It’s the sound of digital clipping embraced as a creative tool. While most of us spend our time avoiding digital overs, Dent 2 encourages you to lean into it. The wave-folding and bit-crushing options can produce incredibly complex and harsh harmonics perfect for industrial and electronic-infused metal.

How to use it in a metal mix

Think of this as a spice, not a main ingredient. Put it on an aux send and use it to add a layer of digital harshness to a snare drum for extra crack, or to a synth bass to make it cut through high-gain guitars. It’s great for adding that "Nine Inch Nails" style digital grit.

8. Dada Life Sausage Fattener

What it is

A deceptively simple plugin with two knobs: "Fatness" and "Color," plus a gain knob. It’s a combination of saturation, compression, and limiting designed to make things sound "fatter" and louder.

Why it’s weird

The name, the goofy interface, and its cult status make it a bit of an outlier. It’s often seen as a "meme" plugin, but it’s surprisingly effective. The "Fatness" knob adds a specific type of low-mid harmonic distortion and compression that can add serious weight to a sound.

How to use it in a metal mix

It’s great on a synth bus or an 808 to give it more presence and perceived loudness. You can also try it as parallel processing on a bass guitar to help it cut through on small speakers, though be careful not to make the low-end muddy. It’s all about adding that extra 10% of aggressive character.

9. Inear Display Litote

What it is

A granular "texture" generator. It breaks your audio into tiny grains and re-scatters them based on pitch, time, and other parameters.

Why it’s weird

It will turn any sound source into an ambient, shimmering, or chaotic cloud of sound. You can freeze the buffer to create infinite drones from a single guitar note or create crystalline textures from a simple vocal line.

How to use it in a metal mix

This is your secret weapon for ambient textures. Take a clean guitar part, feed it into Litote, and create a beautiful, evolving pad-like sound that can sit a mile behind your heavy guitars. It’s a fantastic way to add depth and ethereal layers to your mix without reaching for a standard synth pad.

Do You Actually Need These Weird Plugins?

Absolutely not. You could make a world-class record without touching any of them. The danger is thinking a plugin will solve a fundamental mixing problem. If your guitar tone is fizzy, the first step is solid mic placement and smart EQ, not reaching for Soothe2. If your drums lack punch, the answer lies in proper compression and transient shaping, not just slamming them with Devil-Loc.

Every plugin you add also introduces latency, which can cause phase issues, especially in parallel processing. A cluttered session with 100 esoteric plugins is often slower and less effective than a lean one with tools you know inside and out.

The point is this: master the fundamentals first. Then, use these weird and wonderful tools to add that final 5% of unique character and solve problems that standard tools can’t. They are creative solutions, not foundational necessities.

Master the Tools, Not Just Collect Them

Watching a YouTube demo of a plugin is one thing. Seeing how a producer like Will Putney or Jens Bogren uses it in the context of a full mix is a completely different ballgame. That’s where the real learning happens.

If you want to see exactly how the pros use both standard workhorses and weird creative plugins to craft massive-sounding metal records, Nail The Mix is where it’s at. Every month, you get the raw multi-tracks from a real song and get to watch the original producer mix it from scratch, explaining every plugin, every setting, and every creative decision along the way.

Stop chasing the next shiny object and start learning the skills that truly matter. Check out our entire catalog of past mixing sessions and see what it’s like to learn from the best in the business.

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