Smaller metal

Never second guess the small time players. Definitely not in this day & age. You might put them down for being too novelty without the substance some years ago but manufacturers today are the more listening type, so they know the needs on the ground. As with Blackstar, the people there are active musicians a large number of whom are gear nuts as well. If you want to place some good bets on stuff that works, this might be the name to go to after all.

The HT Metal series is an all out intense distortion type amp so the default drive doesn't do anything mild & smooth to appease some players out there. I definitely like the intensity & the workable cleans. Yes, the clean channel is likable but not exactly the bells & whistle type in the Fender vein. You don't need any more pedals in terms of distortion if you own this one, you might do well to invest in other details, namely delay & modulation.