High-gain distortion
Tenebrae
A liturgy of shadows — cascaded high-gain distortion for the heaviest rhythm tone.
AU · VST3 · Standalone · macOS & Windows · AGPL-3.0
About
A high-gain rhythm-guitar distortion aimed squarely at the core "chug" tone of modern metal: a tightening high-pass ahead of three cascaded, oversampled waveshaper stages — each progressively tighter and darker — followed by a passive-style 3-band tone stack. Pair it with a cabinet IR loader (such as Nave) for the final voicing.
Why the name?
Tenebrae — Latin for darkness — is the Holy Week service in which the candles are extinguished one by one until a single flame remains. A fitting name for a high-gain distortion built from cascaded stages: each one takes away a little more light, and what remains burns hotter.
Features
- Tight — high-pass pre-emphasis, 20–300 Hz, so palm mutes stay percussive
- Gain — 0–40 dB into the 3-stage waveshaper cascade
- 3-stage cascade — progressively tighter, more asymmetric stages inside 8× oversampling
- Voicing — Tight / Loose switch between two complete cascade voicings
- Bright — fixed pre-cascade high-shelf switch, modelled on an amp channel's bright switch
- Bass / Mid / Treble — passive-style tone stack, ±15 dB per band
- Tone Voice — Flat / Scoop / Boost one-switch tilt for instant rhythm-tone shapes
- Presence — post-cascade high-shelf at 2.4 kHz, independent of Bright's pre-cascade shelf (v0.2.0)
- Gate — full-band noise gate after the cascade and tone stack, on by default (v0.2.0)
- Level & Mix — output trim and delay-compensated dry/wet
- Factory presets & preset management — browse/save/import/export via the in-plugin preset bar
Download
The latest builds are published on GitHub Releases.
The macOS binaries are Developer-ID-signed, notarized by Apple and stapled — they install and open without Gatekeeper warnings. Windows builds are not yet Authenticode-signed; SmartScreen may warn about an unknown publisher.
Screenshots
Coming with the next release.
The custom interface is currently in design — screenshots will appear here as soon as it ships.
Audio examples
Coming with the next release.
Before/after clips are being recorded — audio examples will appear here with an upcoming release.
Support development
Basilica Audio is free software, built at night and tuned by ear. If it earns a place in your session, you can help keep the candles lit.
Donation links are not wired up yet — they will go live soon.