Scandinavian Death Metal Quiz | Heavy Metal

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Formed at the breakup of Nihilist, which band debuted in 1990 with the album "Left Hand Path" and is thought to be one of the first and most influential Swedish death metal groups?

Answer: Entombed

Nihilist broke up over differences between Johnny Hedlund, the bassist, and the rest of the band. Almost immediately after the breakup of Nihilist, all members except Hedlund formed Entombed in 1989.

2. In the early 1990s, a large death metal culture began to center around this city, whose name now ofttimes names the subgenre of melodic death metal that has been pioneered there.

Answer: Gothenberg

Gothenberg is the second largest city in Sweden in terms of population and is famous for its sporting events and musical influences. Other than melodic death metal, Gothenberg is also known for the Gothenberg Symphony Orchestra and the pop/rock bands The Soundtrack of Our Lives and Ace of Base.

Some popular "Gothenburg metal" bands include Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, and At the Gates.

3. In which country did the death metal movement of the early 1990s not gain very much popularity when compared to the rest of Scandinavia?

Answer: Denmark

From Wikipedia:

"While death metal and other extreme metal genres constituted an influential part of the underground scene of the early 1990s - and many Danish death metal bands released CDs on Die Hard Records, then known as Progress Records - it never reached the same level of popularity as in other Scandinavian countries. This caused Danish metal to stagnate and eventually fall out of favor in the Danish underground scene. In the late 90s, most of the influential Danish death metal bands had been disbanded. One of the few successful Danish death metal bands to still survive are Illdisposed and Iniquity."

4. Which prolific guitarist, vocalist, and composer has appeared with the groups Eruption, Katatonia, Porcupine Tree, and Bloodbath, but is most noted as the lead singer of Opeth?

Answer: Mikael �kerfeldt

Mustaine is Megadeth's frontman, Euronymous is a former guitarist of Mayhem, and LaBrie is the lead singer of Dream Theater.

Mikael's appearances (from Wikipedia):

--Ayreon: Mikael sings the parts of Fear in The Human Equation, the 2004 release.
--Bloodbath: Mikael was the vocalist for Bloodbath from 2000 to 2004, and can be heard on their Breeding Death and Resurrection through Carnage releases. He also performed live with them at Wacken Open Air in 2005.
--Edge of Sanity: Mikael provided vocals and guitar for some parts of Edge of Sanity's 1996 album Crimson.
--Katatonia: Sings on the 1996 album Brave Murder Day, and the third song EP Sounds of Decay, released 1997. Also does backing vocals on the albums Discouraged Ones and Tonight's Decision.
--Porcupine Tree: Sings and plays on the 2005 album Deadwing.
--Soilwork: Mikael sings cleanly on the title track of the album A Predator's Portrait.
--S�rskogen: Mikael sings in Swedish and plays guitars on the lone track "Mordet i Grottan".
--Steel: A small power metal sideproject by Dan Swan� and Opeth's members, featuring Mikael on guitars.
--Roadrunner United: Mikael performs vocals on the song "Roads" alongside Type O Negative keyboardist Josh Silver on the Roadrunner Records 25th Anniversary album Roadrunner United: The All-Star Sessions.
--Dream Theater: Spoken word part in Repentance on their 2007 album Systematic Chaos.

5. Hailing from Oslo, Norway, this band is known for playing in several different genres including melodic death metal, thrash metal, and progressive rock. They released their first full length album, Burial, in 1998. Their fourth is entitled "The Blueprint Dives." Can you name this Christian-themed band whose name means "to praise highly"?

Answer: Extol

Extol is one of the few popular Christian death metal bands, along with Mortification and Living Sacrifice.

As of August 9th, 2007, they have four albums and are on hiatus.

Discography:
Burial (1998)
Undeceived (2000)
Synergy (2003)
The Blueprint Dives (2005)

6. Another influential Swedish group formed in 1990 as a solo project under the name Seditious. However, the band soon picked up speed as initiate Peter T�gtgren soon had other musicians join. Fifteen years later the group had released ten full-length albums, such as "Penetralia," "Abducted," and "Into the Abyss." Can you name the group?

Answer: Hypocrisy

Peter T�gtgren was influenced by his time with US act Malevolent Creation before he put much of his effort into Hypocrisy. T�gtgren performed vocals on the "Nightmares Made Flesh" album of supergroup Bloodbath.
He is also a respected producer and owns the Abyss recording studio in Ludvika, Sweden.

7. Bands such as Ensiferum, Finntroll, and Amon Amarth have come to popularize this "subgenre" of metal. I use quotations because there is dispute as to whether it is a true genre or not, as its bands often pull heavily from other genres of metal. Can you name the term about which the subject matter of these bands is based?

Answer: Vikings

Viking metal is sometimes not considered a true genre because many of the bands sound very similar to folk, thrash, death, black, and power metal, to name a few. The difference is that these bands deal primarily with subject matters of vikings and Norse mythology.

8. In 1999, several influential Swedish death metal artists from such bands as Opeth, Edge of Sanity, and Katatonia came together to form which "supergroup" of death metal?

Answer: Bloodbath

Bloodbath's original lineup consisted of Mikael �kerfeldt (Opeth) on vocals, Dan Swan� (Edge of Sanity, Nightingale) on drums, Anders "Blakkheim" Nystr�m (Katatonia, Diabolical Masquerade) on guitar, and Jonas Renkse (Katatonia, October Tide) on bass.

After "Nightmares Made Flesh," Renkse and Nystr�m remain, but Martin Axenrot (Witchery, Opeth) is on drums and the band is minus a vocalist.

9. When death metal began to rise in Scandinavia in the 1990s, the Swedish and Finnish death metal bands, mainly influenced by 1980s thrash metal, gained more popularity than their Norwegian counterparts, influenced by what other popular genre in Norway?

Answer: Black Metal

Norway has a rich tradition of black metal. The so-called "Second Wave" of black metal is predominantly Norwegian, composing of bands such as Emperor, Immortal, Burzum, Mayhem, Enslaved, Satyricon, and Darkthrone.

10. This band rose in 1990 from the small town of Loimaa, Finland. They released the popular album "Slumber of Sullen Eyes" in 1992, but then did not release material for ten years. They have recently shown activity with their third album, "Let Chaos Prevail," released in 2007. Can you name this Finnish death metal band that shares its name with an album by the Polish band Behemoth?

Answer: Demigod

Demigod site influences from Carcass, Possessed, and Invocator.
They split up in 1994 despite growing success. However, they reformed in 1998 with new material to release for the 2002 album "Shadow Mechanics."

Source: Author biohazard930

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ralzzz before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Scandinavian Death Metal Trivia Quiz

Scandinavia has been one of the most influential countries with respect to the development of death metal. Try the quiz to learn a bit of the people, groups, and sounds of this dark side of the region.

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