Metalhead Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. A guitarist wants a riff to sound tight and percussive by lightly resting the picking hand near the guitar bridge. Which technique should they use?
Sweep picking
Natural harmonics
Two-hand tapping
Palm muting
2. Corpse paint is most strongly associated with which metal subgenre?
Glam metal
Stoner metal
Black metal
Progressive metal
3. A track combines rapid tremolo-picked guitar lines, shrieked vocals, blast beats, and an intentionally cold atmosphere. Which subgenre does it most strongly suggest?
Doom metal
Black metal
Glam metal
Funk metal
4. Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax are collectively known by which label?
The Founders of Doom
The British Steel Four
The Titans of Progressive Metal
The Big Four of thrash metal
5. A bassist doubles a guitar riff exactly one octave below it. How does the bassist’s fundamental frequency compare with the guitarist’s?
It is twice as high
It is one quarter as high
It is half as high
It remains the same
6. A guitarist increases an amplifier’s gain until the waveform is pushed beyond the amp’s clean operating range. What produces the resulting distorted sound?
Phase cancellation
Pitch quantization
Acoustic isolation
Signal clipping
7. Which hand gesture did Ronnie James Dio help popularize in heavy metal culture?
A two-finger peace sign
A clenched fist held at chest level
The raised index-and-little-finger horns
Two crossed forearms
8. Someone wants metal built around very slow tempos, weighty sustained riffs, and a bleak or solemn mood. Which subgenre is the closest match?
Doom metal
Power metal
Speed metal
Crossover thrash
9. What does NWOBHM stand for?
Northern Wave of British Heavy Music
New Wave of British Heavy Metal
National Workshop of British Hard Music
New World Order of Heavy Metal
10. Compared with classic thrash metal, which combination more strongly points toward death metal?
Clean high vocals, twin-guitar harmonies, and galloping rhythms
Low growled vocals, dense distortion, and frequent blast beats
Slow blues-based riffs, spacious drumming, and mournful singing
Party-focused lyrics, polished hooks, and prominent backing vocals
11. What is the name of Iron Maiden’s recurring mascot?
Vic Rattlehead
Snaggletooth
Eddie
Murray
12. On which Metallica album does the title track “Master of Puppets” appear?
Master of Puppets
Ride the Lightning
…And Justice for All
Kill ’Em All
13. In which English city did Black Sabbath form?
Birmingham
Sheffield
Newcastle
Liverpool
14. Which sequence places these influential British metal bands in order of formation, from earliest to latest?
Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden
Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath
Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest
Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest
15. During a lively metal show, a nearby attendee falls in the pit. What response best reflects widely recognized pit etiquette?
Move away and wait for venue staff to notice
Leave the pit immediately without signaling anyone
Stand still over the person to create a barrier
Help the person back up while watching for surrounding movement
16. An album’s songs follow one continuing story and revisit the same characters and ideas. Which description fits it best?
A split release
A concept album
A compilation album
A live bootleg