Geared Up: Ferium Guitarist Elram Boxer Discusses His Rig and MESA/Boogie Dual Rectifier

Israeli metallers, Ferium, will drop their sophomore album Behind the Black Eyes on April 21, 2016 and pre-orders are being taken now RIGHT HERE. Produced and mixed by the group’s guitarist, Elram Boxer, Behind the Black Eyes was mastered by Thomas Plec Johanssen at The Panic Room by and features 9 tracks of the band’s signature, ripping metal! We spoke with Boxer via email and asked him just how he manages to get his sweet guitar tones and sounds!

What one piece of gear do you use to obtain your signature sound?
Boxer: I believe that one piece of gear cannot define the whole band’s sound, especially on our new album, Behind The Black Eyes, where the bass is relatively high in the mix, and the drums are 100% natural with no triggers or samples added. With that been said, the main thing that makes Ferium sound so intensive is without a doubt the Mesa/Boogie Rectifier for the guitars. It has the edge and clarity, yet it has so much dynamic range which makes it have a somewhat new-old school sound, which is what we were looking for.

What about it makes it so important to you?
Boxer: The most important thing about this amp is its sound. As I mentioned before, it has this mojo all around it which makes your guitar sound so huge! And the dynamic of the sound is amazing. Plus, it has a lot of awesome features such as a direct out to plug your tuner, a mute button on the footswitch, and a Solo button which lets you choose the exact amount of boost you need!

How was this gear used during the recording of your latest album?
Boxer: The whole album Behind The Black Eyes was recorded with the Rectifier for rhythm and lead guitar channels, the same as we did with our last album Reflections. For the new album, Behind The Black Eyes, we used our Mesa 4×12 cab, miced with 2 SM57, and a Yamaha Subkick (a weird choice of a mic for guitar recordings but it gave it a lot of beefy low end ramble! Which we all love 😀 ).

How do you recreate your album (guitar/vocal/bass) tones in your live set?
Boxer: Our recording philosophy for Ferium is to have everything as pure as it can be. That means no triggers on our drums, not a lot of post-processing with our guitars and bass so we have our sound in the source!

Do you have a backup for this gear, if so, what?
Boxer: No back up was needed up until now, so no.

What are the major pros and cons?
Boxer: Pros… for me, EVERYTHING! This amplifier is just amazing… I have had it for 6 years now and it is just amazing! Cons: I hear a lot of guitarists say that they weren’t able to get a good punchy tone out of the Rectifier… and are amazed of the sound I get out of mine. Well, I can honestly say that because of the amp’s versatility and dynamics, it takes time to find that sweet spot for your needs, so try all the knobs and different settings before you call it quits!

How long have you had it, how do you use it, would you ever change it?
Boxer: I have it for 6 years now, and for now there is nothing that fits our needs better, so no plans of changing it!

Any final thoughts or comments on the gear?
Boxer: This amp is awesome! Get it!

Check out the song “Revelation” here.