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REVIEWS
KEY FEATURES
PRICE £199
DESCRIPTION Digital reverb pedal,
made in the USA
CONTROLS Length, diffuse, dampen, reflect,
drag, mix, 9-way rotary mode switch for drag
FEATURES Flexi-Switch latching or non-latching
footswitch, TRS expression pedal input for drag,
¤ĩŕûŀ ƇÝûƇĭûžɔ ƇĩĈ āĭƷƍžĈ buffered bypass with switchable trails, powered
knob changes the spread by 9-volt mains supply only (not included)
of the reverb for extreme DIMENSIONS 121 x 64 x 57mm
žŕƍōāɫžûƍńŴƇĭōġ CONTACT audiodistributiongroup.com,
earthquakerdevices.com
IN USE
Rather than taking a multi-mode approach,
the Afterneath gives you one glorious
sound and lets you tweak it in pretty
much every direction possible, from softly
shimmering ambiences to self-oscillating
drone swells. You could force it to do
Qĭġĩ ŋÝġōĭƇƍāĈɔ Ŵńƍġ ¤ĩÝŀĈ ĭƇ ƍŴɔ ƇĩĈ ‘normal’ reverbs, sure, but that would be
ĭō Ýō ĈƩŴŸĈžžĭŕō ŴĈāÝń ōĭōĈɫŴŕžĭƇĭŕō ŋŕāĈ rather like signing Mo Salah and using him
to maximise the switch is the key to
ğƇĈŸōĈÝƇĩɶž ŴŕƇĈōƇĭÝń ƍōńŕûŀĭōġ žŕōĭû ûĩÝŕž as a ballboy.
There’s a generous pre-delay before
the reverb swooshes in with a lushness and
EARTHQUAKER DEVICES clarity for creating textural washes that
AFTERNEATH V3 leave ample room for layering melodies
over the top. Background hiss can be
WORDS RICHARD PURVIS intrusive with the wet mix past halfway
but you probably won’t need to run it that
The third version of this powerful little ambient soundscape generator high anyway.
adds a couple of interesting new features to the reverberating mix And then, an expression pedal turns up.
With settings on the low side, what you’ll
hear when you flex your ankle is a peculiar
e warned: throughout this review, EarthQuaker makes no secret of the fact pitch-shifting noise in the background.
you’ll come across such slippery that these space-age sounds are made up of With the reverb more prominent, this
adjectives as ‘ethereal’, ‘celestial’ lots of delays blended together, and if you effect becomes downright disorientating.
B and ‘otherworldly’. You’ll also set the diffuse control low, you’ll actually Three of the nine modes offer a continuous
read terms such as ‘woozy’, ‘glitchy’ and hear the repeats tumbling over each other note sweep, while the other six break it up
‘arpeggiated’. As you’ve probably guessed like a multi-head tape echo. into discrete notes at various intervals; this
already, version three of the EarthQuaker The other controls cover more familiar can sound like a bleepy synth arpeggiator
Devices Afterneath can do much more territory: length governs the decay time, or like a dog chewing enthusiastically
than simply immerse your guitar tone in dampen is treble filtering, reflect is density, on a DigiTech Whammy. Either way, it’s
dreamy digital reverb. drag is delay time, and mix does exactly what definitely unconventional.
The Afterneath has been around for it says on the tin. That should be everything How frequently will people use these
five years now, and its place in the modern you need to get otherworldly, ethereal and oddball effects? Not very. But it’s great to
pantheon of trippy reverb pedals is secure, celestial. Well, we did warn you. have them, all the same. Consider them an
but this latest version isn’t content with But here’s the new bit. With most delay exotic side dish to a reverb casserole that
pure atmospherics. The inclusion of a pedals, if you change the time setting while remains as tasty as it’s ever been.
rotary mode switch – plus an input for an playing, you also change the pitch of the
external expression pedal – allows the unit repeats – and remember, this reverb pedal Top soundscaping potential with some
to create dynamic effects capable of jolting is really a delay in disguise. So it lets you use 8/10 synth tricks thrown in – as long as you
listeners out of the blissed-out hypnosis a standard expression pedal to adjust the have an expression pedal
you’ve put them under like a steel toe-cap drag control in mid-flight, while the mode
to the shin. switch changes the way the pitch moves up LIKE THIS? TRY THESE…
Firstly though, let’s go through the basics. and down as you do so. Strap yourself in – Old Blood Noise Endeavors Dark Star £199,
This is still a reverb pedal – except it isn’t. this could get weird. Caroline Meteore £199, KMA Machines Cirrus £169
GUITAR MAGAZINE 99
