Metal In Metal Trivia Quiz

Answer: Heart

Apparently, "Metal Heart" (1985) was supposed to be aimed at the American market, and although it's not anything like as heavy as classic Accept album "Restless and Wild" (1982), or "Breaker" (1981), the band had previously sounded much more commercially viable. In fact, "Metal Heart"'s title track's use of Tchaikovsky and Beethoven themes render it amongst the most Teutonic heavy metal releases ever, despite a couple of misguided attempts at catchy singles.

The album quickly became a firm favourite with Accept fans and sold well, reaching 94 on the US Billboard charts. It was followed by "Russian Roulette" in 1986, another great slab of metal, which was unfortunately the last to feature vocalist extraordinaire Udo Dirkschneider before he left to pursue a solo career, although he's been back and forth since.

Answer: Anvil

Anvil's first album was called "Hard 'N Heavy", a great title in itself, but "Metal On Metal" hit the nail on the head.

When Anvil were at the top of their game, they gave anybody a run for their money. Unfortunately, things didn't quite work out and they never got the chance to develop and remained stuck in a rut. However, Lips and drummer Robb Reiner persevered and they have entertained many folks around the world since their inception in 1978. They have carried on the tradition of bludgeoning album titles, such as "Forged in Fire" (1983),"Strength of Steel" (1987),"Pound for Pound" (1988) and the rather corny "Worth the Weight" (1992).

The film "The Story of Anvil" was a mixed blessing. On the one hand it got them a lot of attention, and surely sold them a few albums, but the media couldn't help talking about the band in that smug, conceited way heavy metal bands always get.

All the options are Canadian metal bands.

Answer: Nattefrost

Roger Rasmussen, aka Roger Nattefrost, put together Nattefrost, which started off as a kind of solo project, in 2003. The debut album, "Blood and Vomit", does what it says on the tin and is a perfect example of raw, attitude-laden, punky black metal. It's a hell of a lot of fun, if that's up your street. The album saw Roger's mates doing some vocals and a bit of playing, but he played most stuff.

The follow-up album, "Terrorist"(2005), had a plethora of guest musicians contributing in all kinds of ways, but the basic nasty black metal vibe was maintained.

The Scorpions are from Germany and haven't delved into black metal as far as I know. Neither have Sweden's Europe or Dismember, although the latter came the closest of the two.

Answer: Usurper

Usurper formed in 1993 and managed to entwine 80s thrash, classic metal and Celtic Frost-esque creepiness like nobody else. Lyrically, they loved tales of horror and beasts, dark fantasy and cryptic esoteric shenanigans. They seemed to eschew the mainstream and sat happily just outside the music circus, delivering quality metal right from debut album "Diabolosis" in 1995 to the last album "Cryptobeast" in 2005 before they split up in 2007.

Since then, at least two bands have emerged out of the ashes : Scythe and Bones.

Black Sabbath wrote "War Pigs" not "The Metal War", and formed in England.

Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic, and belongs to Norway. Sarma is a Serbian dish of stuffed cabbage leaves. There are no doubt metal bands named after both.

Answer: Holocaust

Edinburgh's Holocaust were so metal they had three umlauts on the band's name on their first release, "Heavy Metal Mania" (1980), i.e. Hölöcäust. The umlauts had been dropped by the debut album, but it was still classic New Wave of British Heavy Metal, from cover artwork to lyrics to song structure.

The ep was a huge hit on the heavy metal charts in the UK, and when the album came out it was much sought after around the globe, fast becoming a NWOBHM classic.

Next came a live album, "Live (Hot Curry & Wine)" (1983), which cemented their reputation as a hot live act.

The band went on to experiment with more progressive sounds, producing some impressive albums such as "Hypnosis of Birds" (1992), but went back to harsher metallic sounds with "Covenant" in 1993.

All the red herrings are worth a listen, although Dumpy's Rusty Nuts and The Handsome Beasts are really blues based biker bands who ended up in the catch-all NWOBHM bag. Nevertheless, they are/were both great fun, especially live.

Answer: Death Metal

Possessed had already called a demo tape "Death Metal" in 1984 before the release of the debut album including the track a year later. Although it's a moot point who actually came up with the term, and there were at least two other releases called "Death Metal" that year, Possessed certainly have a good case.

Some folk claim Possessed were the first to play death metal, others say they are the missing link between thrash metal and death metal, others claim that Possessed didn't even play death metal. What really matters is that Possessed's "Seven Churches" is a fantastic metal album, and at the time seemed like a watershed recording as much as Master, Metallica, Exodus, Celtic Frost, Death or Slayer's early rumblings.

The follow-up album, "Beyond the Gates" and subsequent EP, "The Eyes Of Horror", seemed a step backwards to many fans, although in retrospect it's clearer where they were trying to take things. However, at the time this disappointment and lacklustre response from fans must have added to the band's dissatisfaction, and they split up.

The members have gone on to all kinds of things, the most prolific being Larry Lalonde who was in the excellent Blind Illusion before joining big-timers Primus. There have also been various reunions, reformations and so on, but it seems doubtful the band will ever match the debut album in terms of innovation.

Answer: Heavy Metal Thunder

"Heavy Metal Thunder" opens Saxon's third album,"Strong Arm Of The Law", in fine style, setting the tone for one of the band's best early era albums. It also opens "Greatest Hits Live!" (1990), and was the title of a live album recorded at the new (not nu) heavy metal mecca, the Wacken festival in Germany where the band are treated like heroes (quite rightly).

The lyrics manage to touch upon just about every classic heavy metal trope there is, including banging your head, being in hordes of a fist-pumping army, anvils, pain from volume, seas of denim, and nobody standing in your way.

As far as I know, none of the red herrings have ever been recorded, but if you know differently, let me know.

Answer: Grave Digger

Grave Digger formed in 1980, although their debut album, "Heavy Metal Breakdown", didn't come out until 1984. It still stands as a great slice of early 1980s heavy metal, with great titles such as "Headbanging Man", Legion Of The Lost", "Tyrant", and the title track. It also contains a cover of the Rolling Stones' "2000 Light Years from Home", something quite unusual for a band of Grave Digger's ilk/era.

It was followed by the albums "Witch Hunter" and "War Games", but as metal bands headed down the paths of speed metal and thrash, Grave Digger got a bit lost. They changed the name to Digger and took a turn towards a light-weight, commercial sound and lost their fan base. Digger split up in 1987.

Grave Digger came back in the early 1990s and were back on track with albums such as "The Reaper" and an album based on Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen" called "Rheingold".

Tank formed in England in 1980. Helloween formed in Germany, but their debut album wasn't until 1985. Led Zeppelin had a "Communication Breakdown" in 1969.

Answer: Metal Militia

1983's "Kill 'Em All" was something of a watershed album for heavy metal as it ushered in a new era of high profile extreme metal that had only ever been heard on the underground until then. Of course Metallica have lost a lot of metal kudos over the years, but only the most obstinate of hardcore metaller would deny the importance of the release, and it still sounds fresh to these ears after all these years.

Dave Mustaine (later of Megadeth), who had left the band just before recording started, got a song-writing credit for "Metal Militia", as he did for a few songs on the debut album.

The lyrics are a brilliant ode to heavy metal and include all the tropes: thunder and lightning, violent ripping and stabbing, leather and metal uniforms, and even the "metallization of your inner soul".

Answer: Doro Pesch

Although some of Warlock's success can be put down to singer Doro Pesch's stunning voice (not to mention her good looks), the first couple of albums ("Burning the Witches" and "Hellbound") feature great traditional heavy metal that borders on speed metal at times.

The debut album created quite a buzz across the European underground. Once liberated from a lethargic record label, and with a fabulous second album ("Hellbound") under their belts, they capitalized upon the interest by touring heavily, both alone and also getting much-coveted support slots. Although this brought them the much needed exposure for them to take the next step to stardom, it also took its toll on some members and a line-up shuffle ensued.

On later albums they had ditched the speed metal and veered towards more lucrative markets via MTV. Furthermore, Doro took more and more control of the band eventually changing the name to Doro due to legal hassle over the name. Members from the early releases have come back and left again over the years, the mainstay being Doro Pesch.

Ann Boleyn has been singer in the highly underrated Hellion, as well as Detente. Pat Benatar is a rock singer. Wendy O. Williams was in Plasmatics as well as having a great solo career.