It seems as if every amp company has
cast its iron into the low-wattage-amps
fire. Orange, however, has consistently risen
above the crowd with its massively popular
Tiny Terror series—which, of course, started
the whole trend back in 2006. The Tiny
Terror was so well received because it has a
genuinely unique and robust voice—including
the juicy, flowing overdrive that Orange
is famous for—in an incredibly compact
and transportable package.
After the success of the Tiny Terror
among rock and blues players, the company
has now focused its sights on metal
guitarists. Forbiddingly dubbed the Dark
Terror, Orange’s newest low-power amp
builds upon its predecessor’s winning
recipe, while piling on heaps of molten gain
and smoking overdrive that can stretch your
notions of just how
huge tiny can get.
Brother from Another Mother
Like the Tiny Terror, the Dark Terror takes
a simplistic approach to making big sounds.
Just three controls—Gain, Shape, and
Volume—grace the little black devil’s front
panel. The Standby switch is a 3-way affair,
too, offering the option of knocking power
from the maximum of 15 watts to 7. Aside
from the amp’s tube-driven serial effects
loop, there’s not much else to tinker with.
There’s no channel switching—or any sort
of clean option to speak of, for that matter.
At the heart of the raging little beast
is an all-tube circuit driven by a pair of
EL84 power tubes and two 12AX7 preamp
tubes. The amp’s effects loop is driven by a
dedicated 12AT7 tube. All in all, the Dark
Terror is a close cousin to the Tiny Terror,
albeit with an appropriately goth enclosure
and various circuit modifications that put
much, much more gain at your command.
Welcome to the Terror Dome
At times, I was amazed at just how well
the Dark Terror captured the quintessential
Orange tone—especially at extremely
distorted levels. With a 1978 Gibson Les
Paul Custom and a Emperor 4x12 cabinet,
the Dark Terror ripped and snarled with
every downstroke and triplet I threw its
way. The wide, expansive gain voicing that
Orange is famous for is there in full force,
with loose but massive lows, a rich midrange,
and slightly fuzzy highs. It was hard
not to think of the churning, thick tones
from High on Fire’s
The Art of Self Defense
and Celtic Frost’s
Into the Pandemonium—albums defined by a distinct and unique
midrange grind that the Dark Terror delivers
in quantity. The tone was even more
focused when I hooked up an Epiphone
Valve Jr. 1x12 cabinet, which tightened up
the low end, smoothed out the highs, and
made it easier for single-note lines to sit
comfortably alongside heavy riffing.
The massive amount of gain on tap can
also be one of the Dark Terror’s downsides
when it’s turned up too high. With Gain
above 3 o’clock, I had to drop the Shape
control a bit to de-fuzz the high end. And
in doing so, it often seemed the amp’s
midrange went away with the offending
highs. With just 15 watts on tap, the power
section is easily distorted, so it took some
effort to find the proper balance between
knob settings and a pick attack that
wouldn’t drive the front end too hard for
rhythm work.
If you’re hoping to coax any sort of truly
clean tones out of the Dark Terror, you’ll
probably be disappointed. While I was able
to get some decent clean-ish tones by rolling
my guitar’s volume knob down and setting
the amp’s Gain control lower, they retained
a tinge of overdrive that was impossible to
dial out if I played with anything more than
the lightest pick attack. Attempts to do so,
however, led to some very cool tones, revealing
the amp’s dynamic range and pick sensitivity
at lower gain levels.
Switching to a 1978 Greco EC-700 Les
Paul copy—which has pickups more in the
PAF range—I was able to squeeze out some
really great-sounding southern rock rhythm
tones, à la Skynyrd’s “Gimme Three Steps.”
The dynamics and overtones that I got with
the Volume control low and the Gain control
halfway up were almost more impressive
than the amp’s fully cranked tones.
The Verdict
Orange’s Dark Terror builds something
relatively massive on top of the Tiny Terror’s
rock-solid foundation. That’s not the whole
story, however. There may not be much to
speak of in the way of clean tone, but if
you’re adept at using your guitar’s onboard
controls, the low-gain tones and dynamics
are stellar. On the whole, the tones are classic
Orange and infused with enough gain to
satisfy even the most discerning stoner-metal
enthusiast. And if your bag is modern hard
rock with a dash of those characteristic fuzzy
Orange highs and mids, the Dark Terror
might just scare you silly.
Watch the video review:
Buy if...
you seek fantastically massive overdrive
tones in a miniscule package.
Skip if...
you absolutely must have
sparkling cleans.
Rating...
