Gravesaw
Black metal amp with 19 built-in cabs for guitar and bass DI, from raw buzz to a thick wall.
Details & audio →Tools for bands · Code Chaos Audio
Tools for bands, built next to the mastering desk.
Many problems a mastering engineer finds start much earlier: a fizzy amp tone, a reverb that collapses in mono, a kick and bass that cancel each other. Tim Borchert, who masters every track at Polished, also builds audio plugins under the label Code Chaos Audio. Here they are with screenshots, real demo audio and plain system requirements. Everything is sold on Gumroad, and most plugins have a free demo.
Where each tool fits
/ 01
Writing and demos
Frostfret plays guitar and bass from MIDI, Hoarfell plays drums, bass and a choir pad. Both are modelled, with no samples, and made for demos and pre-production.
/ 02
Tone
Gravesaw turns guitar and bass DIs into a black metal amp and cab sound, with 19 built-in cabs.
/ 03
Space
Rimehall adds a cold hall, shimmer and tape, and ducks the reverb while the riff plays.
/ 04
Low end
Kick/Bass Scope shows whether kick and bass add up or cancel. It is free.
/ 05
Saturation
Crucible saturates bass, drums and buses in three bands with five saturation types per band.
/ 06
Electronic layers
Shardstep adds tempo-synced stutter and glitch fills, Chaos FM generates FM leads, basses and stabs.
All plugins
Rimehall
Cold hall, octave shimmer and tape grit on one bus, with ducking so fast riffs stay clear.
Details & audio →
Frostfret
Modelled guitar and bass you play from MIDI: tremolo, palm mute, double tracking, amp built in or DI out.
Details & audio →
Hoarfell
Modelled drums on the GM map, bass and a choir pad from MIDI, made for blast beats in demos and pre-production.
Details & audio →
Kick/Bass Scope
Free analyzer that lays kick and bass on top of each other and warns you when they cancel.
Details & audio →
Crucible
3-band saturation with five types per band, for grinding bass mids while the low end stays solid.
Details & audio →
Shardstep
Tempo-synced stutter, tape stop and glitch fills for 200 to 300 BPM, click-free at every slice.
Details & audio →
Chaos FM
3-operator FM synth with a GENERATE button for metallic leads, bass layers and stabs.
Details & audio →
Black Metal Suite bundles
Gravesaw, Rimehall, Frostfret, Hoarfell and the two black metal packs, bundled in two sizes.
Black Metal Suite: two bundles
The black metal tools are also sold together as the Code Chaos Black Metal Suite, in two sizes. Every plugin inside runs on Windows 10/11 and on Apple Silicon Macs (unsigned, no AU). Buying happens on Gumroad.
Black Metal Suite Essentials
Amp, reverb, cab IRs and drum samples with MIDI: the mixing side of a black metal record.
€39 instead of €59 · you save €20
Black Metal Suite Complete
Everything in Essentials plus the two instruments: write, demo and mix a song without a sample library.
€69 instead of €105 · you save €36
Also for black metal: sample and IR packs
Not plugins, but from the same workshop and live on Gumroad. Both packs are also included in both bundles above.
- Black Metal Tone Kit (€9): 19 synthesised cab IRs (48 and 44.1 kHz) plus REAPER FX chains for guitar and bass. Works with NAM and any IR loader. The cabs inside Gravesaw are these IRs.
- Black Metal Drum Kit (€12): 47 synthesised drum samples and 30 MIDI grooves for blast beats, gallop and doom, from 60 to 230 BPM. The drums in the Gravesaw and Rimehall demos come from it.
System requirements at a glance
| Plugin | Price | Windows | macOS | Free demo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gravesaw | €19 | Yes | Apple Silicon only, unsigned | Yes |
| Rimehall | €19 | Yes | Apple Silicon only, unsigned | Yes |
| Frostfret | €29 | Yes | Apple Silicon only, unsigned | Yes |
| Hoarfell | €17 | Yes | Apple Silicon only, unsigned | Yes |
| Kick/Bass Scope | Free · pay what you want | Yes | Apple Silicon only, unsigned | — |
| Crucible | €19 | Yes | No | Yes |
| Shardstep | €15 | Yes | Apple Silicon only, unsigned | Yes |
| Chaos FM | €19 | Yes | No | Yes |
No AU versions, so Logic Pro is not supported. The macOS builds are not signed or notarized; macOS blocks them at first and you allow them under System Settings → Privacy & Security. Every plugin was tested with automated checks but has not been tried in every DAW yet. Checkout, payment and any applicable taxes are handled by Gumroad. Polished only links to it.
Tools don't replace a master
These plugins help you get a mix ready. A release that sounds right on earbuds, in the car and after streaming normalisation still needs a mastering pass with fresh ears. At Polished every master starts with a written audio audit of your mix, from €79 per track incl. VAT, unlimited revisions. Genre pages: black metal, death metal, doom & gothic and metalcore & djent.
Tools for bands: FAQ
Who makes these plugins?
Tim Borchert, the mastering engineer behind Polished, builds them under the label Code Chaos Audio. Polished links to them; buying and downloading happens on Gumroad.
Do the plugins run on a Mac?
Gravesaw, Rimehall, Frostfret, Hoarfell, Shardstep and Kick/Bass Scope run on Apple Silicon Macs as VST3 and Standalone. There are no Intel builds and no AU versions, and the macOS builds are not signed or notarized. Crucible and Chaos FM are Windows only.
Can I try them before buying?
Yes. Gravesaw, Rimehall, Frostfret, Hoarfell, Shardstep, Crucible and Chaos FM each have a free demo on Gumroad: the full plugin with a short noise burst every 45 seconds. Kick/Bass Scope is free.
Do Frostfret and Hoarfell sound like real recordings?
They are modelled, with no samples. Distorted and acoustic guitars come closest to a recording, the clean electric guitar sounds the most synthetic. The drums are made for demos and pre-production, and the choir sings vowels only, as a pad behind the mix. Each page has demo audio to judge for yourself.
Is there a bundle?
Yes, two. Black Metal Suite Essentials (Gravesaw, Rimehall, Tone Kit, Drum Kit) costs €39 instead of €59. Black Metal Suite Complete adds Frostfret and Hoarfell and costs €69 instead of €105.