Old Blood Noise Endeavors Dark Star

It goes without saying that this is not a generic reverb. If you are looking for rooms, halls, springs etc., search elsewhere.

As a creative and intuitive tool it does do a good job. However, some of its parameters do not work as one would expect. For example, the mix (wet/dry) knob does not really adjust the volume of the dry signal until up around 95% where, as expected, you get only the reverb. So, you cannot really control the volume of the dry signal, it is essentially only on or off.
Also, the octave up sounds very unnatural, mainly because it creates an almost tremolo effect.

Overall, the pedal opens a lot of sonic possibilities, but not without some issues.

The Dark Star adds a really nice layer of atmospheric noise to what you're playing, which for me is useful in the black metal project I'm using it for. If you're looking for a more general reverb this probably isn't a good option for you, I also have a Hall of Fame 2 and find this much better for general reverb. However, what the Dark Star specialises in, it does well.

The build in general is really good, and I love the gfx on the case. The buttons do feel a little cheap compared to the rest of the build, but work fine. Overall a nice pedal, but niche in it's use.

The pedal works best on slower, more ambient pieces and adds a dark flavour to melodies. I bought the pedal mainly for the bit crusher mode for Alt-rocky riffs and the other modes for clean melodic stuff. My biggest problem with the pedal is that the sounds aren't clean and it can be tricky to get the right settings. But when you do find the right settings, it can give a somber melody a sense of impending doom or create absolute chaos. You can also hook it up to an expression pedal and have a chord ringing out in the background, which can help when improvising. The Dark Star takes time to get used to and when you do, the wide array of sounds can add a texture to your playing that can't be achieved otherwise.

Although I returned it, I'm still giving this pedal 4 stars in total just because of its unique sound. On the downside, the overall sound quality is a bit too Lo-Fi for my taste, but actual reason I returned it is that the pedal is noisy - it raised the noise floor of my signal chain significantly which to me is a deal breaker.

Pros: truly unique sound unlike any other reverb, great for experimental music, dark ambient, drone.

Cons: kind of Lo-Fi, and too noisy.

So if you are into experimental music but don't really care about high fidelity, go ahead and get it, it will be very useful to you.