you're gonna hate this answer, but this is the best answer.

TRY THEM FIRST.

what kind of amp do you play through???????????

I have a Cube 20X , and i possibly buy a Randall ... RX25RM or RX35DM ......... i like a pedal that i can play in those amps...... i like to try those pedals first, but a do not have a Guitar Center near by to test them.

well a distortion pedal will more than likely just muddy up your sound. the amp you have provides a good amount of gain allready. just adding more gain will cause feedback issues and sound muddy. i suspect what you really want is a BIGGER sound. in order to get that you need to get an amp with MORE speakers. like a 2x12 combo or even a hlf stack(4x12). more speakers push more air = bigger sound. there is NO pedal that will make your amp sound bigger. but if i were to make a suggestion on a pedal ....it would be the seymour duncan twin turbo Mayhem pedal.(229$). very versatile with som db increase options....

Thanks a lot friend..... what amp do you have ?

i use my marshall JCM900 half stack for pretty much all my live shows. i use a pod XT for practice and recording thru my computer.....i have a couple of other smaller solid state combos' that i use to teach with.....

I have the Twin Tube Mayhem. No matter what I set it to it never seems to muddy up like some other pedals, That stomp box was made for today's type of metal, deth metal, etc. I never regretted buying it.

the big muff pedal is cool, so is the ibanez tube screamer.

Joe

I have a Digitech Hot Rod atm, and it does the job for me rather nicely.

And one of the best things about it is that it's apparently indestructible, I've kicked, dropped, spilt drinks on and generally abused mine for the last year, and its just as good as ever.

To me, the Boss Metal Zone sounds like 80's metal.

I read a review of about 20 distortion pedals in the latest Guitar Player mag. The pedals that interest me (as a metal player) were:

Twin Tube Mayhem
Krank Distortus Maximus
Electro Harmonix Graphic Fuzz

In the $80 to $125 range, between the Boss Metalzone , Digitech Metal Master , Metal Muff , Uber Metal ? .... older Metallica, Iron Maiden and Megadeth kind of sounds ..... along with the Roland Cube 30X ???

I have a keeley modded metal zone that sounds absolutely brutal. I'll get a quick clip for you here...