When Neural Amp Modeler (NAM) came up on the scene, nobody knew what to think of it, including myself.
Truth be told, I actually didn't care at all about Neural Amp Modeler and didn't even install or try it until years later.
What I learned is that NAM evolved quickly and it wasn't a "fun experiment" or a toy. It's a legit recording and tone-design platform that can go punch-for-punch with IK Multimedia's TONEX.
And when you use it properly, it delivers scary-accurate tones.
So, of course, I had to answer the question for myself: can it do black metal tones?
That's exactly what I wanted to prove for myself when I built my Luciferian Rites NAM Profiles pack.
What Is Neural Amp Modeler?
If you're new to NAM, here is the short version:
Neural Amp Modeler is a free, open-source amp-capture platform that lets you profile any real amp and reproduce it digitally inside your DAW.
Think of it like taking a sonic snapshot of your entire rig: distortion pedal, amp, cabinet, EQ, and turning that into a reusable digital tone.
The Neural Amp Modeler plugin is both a VST and an AU plugin that works on both Windows and Mac, integrating into DAWs like Cubase, Reaper, and Logic.
Pro Tools users (why are you using Pro Tools?) can use the Neural Amp Modeler plugin as well, but you'll need something like the Blue Cat Audio's Patchworks AAX plugin, which is a VST wrapper that hosts VST plugins inside Pro Tools.
Over the years, Neural Amp Modeler presets have been popping up all over the place, allowing others to get elite-level tones, provided the captures are of high quality.
Like I say, it's free, so if you want to grab it, here it is: Neural Amp Modeler Download. Scroll down until you see "Snapshot plugin," and then click on the installer for your OS.
Why I Started Creating NAM Profiles
Like I said above, I didn't care at all about NAM when it first came out and pretty much ignored it.
However, I couldn't ignore the questions I'd get of people asking me, "Scott, would you make some NAM profile tones?"
And once I realized that NAM was a legit thing, I figured I'd give it a shot. But of course, I wanted to see if it could handle black metal guitar tones, which are tricky to make.
So here was my goal: take my ENGL Savage 60 mkI, one of the best, aggressive, and articulate metal amps ever made, and turn it into a mix-ready digital rig for musicians.
The result became Luciferian Rites, a full collection of high-fidelity NAM Profiles built specifically for modern black metal.
Inside the Luciferian Rites NAM Pack
Here's what's included in the Luciferian Rites NAM Profile pack:
- 20 total professionally crafted modern black metal Full Rig tone captures
- 10 Full Rig STD captures with standard profiling
- 10 Full Rig xSTD captures using a custom, high-fidelity profiling process
- 1 head-only ENGL Savage 60 mkI capture for use with your own IRs
- 5 custom IR blends with EQ processing
- Tones designed for guitars in Standard E to Drop B, perfect for black, death, and symphonic black metal
Load the profiles in the NAM Player, and you're ready to riff. No endless tweaking or tone chasing... just riff writing!
NAM Works For Black Metal
Black metal tone is all about edge, atmosphere, distortion, and a cutting high end.
I found that NAM was able to nail this after some testing and I have to admit that it captured the real amp behavior with palm mutes and tremolo picking.
When you jam through my Luciferian Rites NAM Profiles, you'll have a black metal machine at your fingertips that you simply can't get without having the ENGL Savage 60 mkI.
Personally, I feel it's the best NAM profiles for metal pack that I've created thus far and I'm very proud of it. But more than that, it proved to me that NAM can absolutely hang with IK Multimedia's TONEX and popular commercial amp sims like Neural DSP.
How I Profiled the ENGL Savage 60 mkI
Creating these guitar NAM profiles wasn't a one-click process. It took me a few days.
I wanted each capture to be as accurate as possible, and I found out that tweaking the settings on the amp had a ripple effect down the line with training. But in a nutshell, the process looked like this:
- Recorded some guitar parts so I could reamp quickly
- Used those guitar DI files to craft a custom IR blend using different microphones and speakers
- Adjusted the tonestack on the ENGL Savage 60 mkI to work with the IR blend I created
- Reamped with the training file, and used two different profiling methods (STD / xSTD)
- Tested each profile in a real mix with drums and bass to see how they fit together in a mix context
That's why these captures feel dynamic instead of flat one-trick-ponies. I put a lot of pressure on myself to deliver tones that can be used not only in the songwriting process, but in the mixing process.
Where to Get These NAM Profiles for Metal
If you're wondering where to get NAM profiles, that's simple: right here at Chernobyl Audio.
Download the Luciferian Rites NAM Profiles
Whether you're gonna use these for demos, home production, or full-scale album work, these profiles can drop straight into your workflow and you'll sound incredible immediately.
Again, all you need is the completely free Neural Amp Modeler VST.
Final Thoughts
While I didn't pay much attention to it at first, I have to say I'm definitely impressed with Neural Amp Modeler and I will continue creating tones with it in the future.
I have a number of NAM Profile packs already available outside of Luciferian Rites, so I hope you'll give them a try and let me know what you think!