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Speaking from experience, using pedals for distortion is never going to sound as good as an amp with a nice dirty gain channel. That said, the better the amp sounds, the better the pedal will sound.

Here's a few pedals to try out:

Electro-Harmonix "Big Muff Pi" - Click here
- The link should show you all of the "big muff" pedals available. I'm not a huge fan of E-H stuff, especially their tubes, but I've got a friend who has the Russian version of this pedal and it's surprisingly versatile. They even make a "Metal Muff" if the original doesn't quite do it for you.

Ibanez "TS9/TS9DX/TS808 Tube Screamer" - Click here
- This is more of a boost pedal than anything. It can give you a little overdrive if you run in through your clean channel, and it'll make your distortion a little meaner. This may be geared more towards slightly higher gain amps that just need a boost to put them over the top, but it's something you can test out.

Vox "Satchurator" - Click here
- According to Guitar World magazine, it's "Joe's sound in a box". It's an alternative to the big muff essentially, probably creating enough distortion on it's own to suit your playing style based on the bands you listed. This one I haven't actually played with myself but I've heard it plenty of times. Search it on youtube for soundclips.

Pro Co "RAT" - Click here
- The RAT has kind of an 80's feel to it, but it's decently versatile. Again, I haven't had much experience with this pedal. I've used one a couple of times, and what I've heard I liked.

Digitech "DF-7 Distortion Factory" - Click here
I'm not a huge fan of Digitech pedals, but when the only amp I had was a POS solid state Crate combo, it did the job pretty well for my metal band. It models 7 different pedals a couple of which I have listed above (Pro Co RAT, Ibanez TS9). Three of the knobs are double stacked, giving you a lot of variation in tone. Decent pedal for a Digitech. You'll definitely be able to find a sound you like with this one.

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