Heavy Metal Quiz

1. Which band is widely credited as the originators of heavy metal with their 1970 debut album?

1. Black Sabbath
2. Deep Purple
3. Judas Priest
4. Led Zeppelin

2. Metallica's 'Master of Puppets' (1986) is considered one of metal's greatest albums. What are its themes?

1. Drug addiction and the loss of control — the 'master' being the drugs controlling the user
2. Norse mythology and Viking conquest
3. Political revolution and anti-government protest
4. Science fiction and space exploration

3. The 'Big Four' of thrash metal are Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, and which fourth band?

1. Exodus
2. Megadeth
3. Pantera
4. Testament

4. Iron Maiden is known for their mascot 'Eddie'. What is Eddie?

1. A mythological figure from British folklore
2. A skeletal zombie figure appearing on all Iron Maiden album covers and merchandise
3. The band's name for their lead guitarist's guitar
4. The nickname for lead singer Bruce Dickinson

5. What is the 'devil's interval' or 'tritone' associated with heavy metal?

1. A chord progression from major to minor
2. A guitar technique using artificial harmonics
3. A musical interval of three whole tones — the flatted fifth — considered dissonant and historically called 'diabolus in musica'
4. Playing at extremely high volumes

6. Ozzy Osbourne became infamous for an incident at a concert in Des Moines, Iowa in 1982. What happened?

1. He bit the head off a live bat thrown on stage by a fan
2. He fell off the stage and broke both legs
3. He set fire to the stage
4. He was arrested mid-concert

7. Dimebag Darrell was the legendary guitarist of which metal band?

1. Machine Head
2. Pantera
3. Sepultura
4. Slayer

8. Which Norwegian band's early 1990s black metal scene became notorious for church burnings and musician imprisonments?

1. Both groups were involved
2. Enslaved, Immortal, Satyricon
3. It was primarily Swedish bands
4. Mayhem, Burzum, Darkthrone, Emperor

9. Judas Priest is credited with creating what aspect of metal's visual identity in the late 1970s?

1. Face paint and theatrical stage performances
2. Long hair and denim jackets
3. The 'devil horns' hand gesture
4. The leather, studs, and biker aesthetic that defined 'heavy metal look'

10. Who popularised the 'devil horns' hand gesture at metal concerts?

1. Dio (Ronnie James Dio)
2. Gene Simmons of KISS
3. Ozzy Osbourne
4. Tony Iommi

11. Tool's 'Lateralus' (2001) album title track is structured around what mathematical sequence?

1. Pi (3.14159...)
2. Prime numbers
3. The Fibonacci sequence — syllable counts and time signatures mirror the sequence
4. The Pythagorean theorem

12. Which heavy metal subgenre features downtuned guitars, extremely slow tempos, and crushingly heavy sound — associated with bands like Sleep and Electric Wizard?

1. Death metal
2. Doom metal
3. Grindcore
4. Sludge metal

13. Slayer's 'Reign in Blood' (1986), produced by Rick Rubin, is how long and why is that remarkable?

1. 12 minutes — an extended EP
2. 29 minutes — remarkably short for a metal album, yet devastatingly efficient
3. 45 minutes — standard album length
4. 62 minutes — a metal epic

14. What is 'death metal' and which Florida city became its epicentre in the late 1980s?

1. A British metal movement using classical compositions; Birmingham, England
2. A form of metal with horror film-themed lyrics; Los Angeles
3. A Scandinavian movement; Bergen, Norway
4. An extreme metal subgenre with blast-beat drums, heavily distorted guitars, and guttural vocals; Tampa and Gainesville, Florida

15. Metallica's self-titled 'Black Album' (1991) became one of the best-selling albums in history. How many copies has it sold?

1. 16 million
2. 22 million
3. 5 million
4. Over 30 million

16. Which British band released 'Paranoid' (1970), featuring 'War Pigs', 'Iron Man', and the title track?

1. Black Sabbath
2. Deep Purple
3. Led Zeppelin
4. Uriah Heep

17. What is 'kvlt' in black metal culture?

1. A deliberate misspelling of 'cult' used to denote bands that are underground, raw, and uncompromisingly tr00 (true)
2. A Norwegian term for blast-beat drumming
3. A Scandinavian word for guitar technique
4. A specific recording technique using only analogue equipment

18. Ronnie James Dio succeeded Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath. In which other band did he achieve fame before joining Sabbath?

1. Both Rainbow AND he then formed Dio
2. Dio
3. Rainbow
4. Whitesnake

19. Which Swedish band's 1991 album 'Skydancer' essentially founded melodic death metal?

1. At the Gates
2. Dark Tranquillity
3. In Flames
4. Opeth

20. Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Pearl Jam are associated with which Seattle-based genre that bridged metal and alternative rock?

1. Grunge
2. Nu-metal
3. Post-grunge
4. Stoner rock