Victory releases VX The Kraken 50-watt amp head
Compact head designed for high-gain players

Victory VX The Kraken - front

Victory VX The Kraken - back
Brit amp company Victory is going from strength to strength, as it announces VX The Kraken, a 50-watt gained-up head aimed at hard-rock, metal, extended-range and prog players.
With a focus solely on dirt, The Kraken delivers British JCM-style rhythm tones on its gain I channel, while gain II switches to contemporary American high-gain styles.
Rabea Massaad (of Andertons and Dorje fame) - a man who knows gain - was involved in the development of the amp, and although it's no signature model, he demos the head in the video above.
Power scaling is also available via 50-watt high-power and 15-watt low-power modes, switchable down to nine or two watts when using the single-ended mode, accessible from the rear of the amp.
Elsewhere, the compact head features a shared EQ section, series effects loop, two footswitchable master volumes and a bass focus switch for a tighter low-end response, while the amp can run 6L6 or EL34 valves.
VX The Kraken is available from August in EL34 and 6L6 incarnations for £829/$1,229/€929. Head over to Victory Amplification for more.
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Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism, and has spent the past decade writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as a decade-and-a-half performing in bands of variable genre (and quality). In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.