Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with metal

What does this song sound like

rebent — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:28:49 -0800

What song does the intro to this song my friend wrote sound like? It is not from napoleon dynamite or a wes anderson movie (I checked). Maybe it is from an iPod commercial from a few years ago? Please help me out! It's driving me nuts!

the best underground/extreme Metal albums you know of

herbplarfegan — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:48:53 -0800

looking for recommendations on thrash/death metal albums. (I did search previous threads, & it looks like a refresher is timely)
I'll try like hell not to get too wordy in providing some background for your approach answering.

so you know my tastes a little,
my favorite 10 thrash/death metal albums are:
Slayer-Reign In Blood (1986);
Megadeth-So Far So Good... So What? (1988);
Metallica-...And Justice For All (1988);
Suffocation-Pierced From Within (1996);
Seventh Angel-Lament For The Weary (1992);
Sepultura-Arise (1992);
Living Sacrifice-Nonexistent (1992);
Malevolant Creation-Retribution (1993).
The Black Dahlia Murder-Miasma (2005);
Between The Buried And Me-Alaska (2005).

more input to help honing:
I DO like Bathory, Sodom, Kreator, Death, & Morbid Angel
I DON'T like: Venom, Celtic Frost, Anthrax

please specify albums when possible, & I'm looking for two things:

1. lesser-known bands from the original classic thrash era (1986-1993). [the reason I specify "underground"
for this category is that pandora/wikipedia/etc make it pretty easy to research anything that got decent exposure]

2. more recent stuff overall-- progressive, dynamic, emphatic, original material;
I mention Between The Buried And Me & The Black Dahlia Murder so you know where I'm coming from in terms of
dynamics & lyrical approach.

smart lyrics, preferably not idiotic-gorey, preachy, political, or church-burning crap, and I thrive most on the poise that you find in truly decent thrash, where you find death, destruction, damnation, war, and insanity are treated aesthetically and objectively.

..and local bands from where you live are welcome, big time
(in fact that might be what I'm most interested in overall).

thank you

p.s. not looking for different opinions on definitions/semantics with "classic", "progressive" names of sub-genres, or timelines that
I've discussed-- here I'm just putting my energy into best describing what kind of new brutality I'm looking for.... thanks >:) *devil-horns

Seeking clicking mechanism or design...

pallen123 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:21:02 -0800

What kind of small toys or devices click when you rotate them forwards and backwards? Seeking mechanism or design... I’m trying to help a friend design a small toy and she needs a mechanism that will click in very small increments as she rotates a small (1 inch diameter) dial that turns 360 degrees on its axis. She needs the dial to click precisely as it turns clockwise and counterclockwise in smallish increments. I was thinking a fishing reel mechanism might work, but that just allows turning in one direction. Then I thought a ratchet wrench mechanism might work, but that also turns in just one direction (and I’m not sure how the inside of a ratchet wrench works either). Can anyone think of existing toys or devices that have a clicking mechanism that freely rotate? Novel solutions? Suggestions? Thank you!

My desk gets really hot.

Damn That Television — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:21:57 -0800

Thermodynamics-filter. I own a large metal desk that I keep pushed up against my window. Underneath my desk top (clearance of a few inches) is my furnace. Whenever I turn the furnace on, the desk top heats up very quickly. I do not want to move my desk if at all possible. (great view). Could I make a heat shield for the underside?

Not your grandma's Schumann records: give me piano bands that will rock my face off.

JaiMahodara — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:37:13 -0800

I'm looking for piano-based rock bands that rock really, really hard. I've seen this question, but I'm specifically looking for bands - not songs - that are led by a badass, hard-rocking pianist, like the Led Zeppelin of piano rock.

I love Ben Folds, Fiona Apple, Brad Mehldau...and suggestions in this genre are certainly welcome as well, but I'd love to find bands leaning more towards punk, heavy metal, hip-hop, or any hard-rocking, unconventional bands that are piano driven.

Bring me audio ecstasy, hive mind.

Gears n Roses

A Terrible Llama — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 12:44:26 -0800

I want metal gears and gear-looking items, like bicycle derailleurs, to make some art. Where can I get them cheap? What are the secret sources of that sort of stuff? Where I go with it depends what I can get -- if I can get some awesome giant clock gear, that might be it, but otherwise I want a variety of sizes. It doesn't have to be all the same type of gear, and the sizes can range from a couple of inches to a foot or more. I looked at rotary saw blades, but they look too mean. I'm looking for stuff like this.

I'm also looking for good sources of copper pipe or aluminum pipe -- I know hardware stores carry them, but I'm wondering if there are secret sources where I could get stuff a little cheaper.

Brick and mortar ideas if possible, but if I can get some super cool thing online I'll go with it.

Thanks everyone.

Not-so-Fantastic Plastic

Miko — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 07:19:55 -0800

Can you help my household kick the plastic habit? I've been reading all sorts of creepy things about plastics lately, and really want to stop using them as much as possible, especially for food storage and heating.

I've been using Pyrex refrigerator dishes for leftovers for a long time, and have a bunch of old-school Thermoses that still work well. I've become aware of round metal "tiffin" containers, but haven't bought any yet. We store a lot of grains, beans, and spices in canning jars in the cupboards.

Beyond that, I'm still searching for solutions. Things like: when I want to pop a bowl of dough or something in the fridge with an airtight cover, what can I use? Are there reusable sandwich bags or food wrap of some material other than plastic? What about sandwich-shaped containers? What can go into the freezer and provide a real seal - as for frozen pizza dough, leftovers, etc?

A lot of cosmetic products come in plastics, too. Any ways of getting around that?

Thanks all.

I'm looking for metal brackets / architectural frames / sign holders by the end of the day Monday, in NYC

Optimus Chyme — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:26:14 -0800

I'm looking for some metal brackets / architectural frames / sign holders by the end of the day Monday, in NYC. These are fairly simple metal pieces, either polished or chromed steel or aluminum, much like an L-bracket. They are 4 inches wide, with or without mounting holes. I need 23 sets (46 pieces total) by the end of the day Monday. I don't care if they're retail, wholesale, or custom - I need these ASAP. Do you know a store or fabricator I can get a hold of?

I have attached a drawing here.

Something a little deeper than "brutal, dude."?

Bookhouse — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:51:49 -0800

Where can I find intelligent writing about (current) heavy metal, preferably online? As my love for heavy metal blossoms, I'm finding that there's lots of places to find reviews of new albums, but the vast majority of the reviews are ... um ... crap. Ideally, I'd like to find a single go-to site or (better yet) single critic whose opinion I trust and whose writing is strong and thought-provoking. (I'm mostly into the sludgy doom stuff like Electric Wizard, but I'm open to other stuff as well, so that's secondary). Just to be clear, I'm having no problem finding reviews ... it's well-written reviews that I'm looking for.

Thanks!

Help me make a rock/metal playlist!

Sufi — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:47:28 -0800

I need about 40 musical artists that would please a crowd that likes mainstream rock & metal. The catch: I'm trying to avoid stuff that can easily be heard on the radio. Tool, Nine Inch Nails, Nightwish, Switchblade Symphony and Type O Negative are on the list because they are the few "heavy" bands that I actually enjoy and believe my audience would like. Could you guys help me put together a list of other artists that would fit with this genre?

I'd prefer not to play too much stuff that is or has been overplayed on the radio, and it must be danceable!

(I have looked at this askme post but I'm worried most of those recommendations may be too far off base. You tell me.)

Psst, anyone want to buy some iron filings?

csmason — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 07:57:58 -0800

I've 'inherited' at least 50kg of some sort of ferrous filings in one large can, and one cotton/burlap bag. What should be done with them? Can I just take them to the dump? Should they go to some scrap metal depot? We are cleaning out the basement to our home, where some of the previous owners posessions still remain. Small tidbits and stories from the neighbours paint the picture of the previous owner keeping everything. Among the 550kg of scrap plywood and bits and pieces, he's kept at least 50kg of some sort of iron/ferrous filings in a couple of containers.

I have no use for the stuff (What the heck is it used for, other than "something heavy"?). Is it useful to someone else, or should it just be 'thrown' (dragged) out?

My car is like a mullet - sometimes business, sometimes party

Lucinda — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:31:51 -0800

How to put a bumpersticker on fiberglass so that it is easily (and instantaneously) removable and replacable? I like to have many bumperstickers on my car. However, I cannot permanently affix them to the car.

To solve this, I put my bumperstickers on magnetic vinyl and attach them to the metal parts of my car. However, I'm running out of steel parts on the back of my car and would like to move to putting stickers on the (fiberglass) bumper of my car.

My requirements are that whatever I use, it has to be easily removable/reattachable (the stickers are removed from the car 1x to 2x a week), and leave no residue on the car.

(I saw this question but I'm not sure the low-tac adhesive would stand up to repeated removal/attachment.)

Estranged pieces of metal in an Organ from the 1960s are the topic of the day

tmcw — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:33:36 -0800

Fixing an old transistor organ: how do I fix these switches that seem to rely on the springiness of metal in order to make contact? So, I'm working on fixing this big ol' Doric organ (previously), and I stumbled upon a big break: it appears that the voices, as well as the vibrato, may not be broken, but just the switch activating them. However, this switch seems to rely on the exact same principle as the key contacts, and that principle is failing hard fourty-something years after this thing was built.

See this picture for a quick hint.

Basically, two wires, one which is the contact and stays at a certain place, and the second which is supposed to spring onto that contact when the key is depressed. Unfortunately, the second one is no longer very springy and I believe that these contacts are a bit rusty/bad.

So, contact cleaner is obvious solution #1, but the other problem is that with a few of these buttons, the piece of metal which is supposed to move onto the other just doesn't, and I don't have much of a way of bending it, since the furthest it can travel right now is the other contact. Also, just rebending this wire is a temporary fix, I'd guess, since, after all, it'll bend back like it has over all these years, leaving the next aspiring electrician thinking that the vibrato circuit is broken.

So, please let me know your thoughts! I am not even sure what the term for this 'keying system' is called, so my google-powers are weak. And any help would be so, so appreciated!

Thanks!

Finding a missing wedding ring in a field

Kwine — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:47:25 -0800

I lost my wedding ring playing soccer today. Help me maximize my chance of getting it back with a metal detector, or provide another better idea. I am a person of extreme stupidity, and volunteered to play goal keeper without taking off my wedding ring. I noticed it was missing right after I made a save on a hard shot; I'm pretty sure that knocked it off since I'm sort of OCD about messing with the ring.

Both teams searched the area at halftime and after the game with no luck-which makes me think that I need to broaden the search area. I notified the field manager, and left my name and number with her; she said they would hold off mowing that field tomorrow (I am on Eastern Time USA)

I am going to buy a metal detector in the morning and head out there, but I know nothing about them. How do I use it? Does it matter how expensive it is or will a cheapo one work just as well? Do you have another idea for helping me get it back?

Theoretical geek in 1981 needs records.

Weighted Companion Cube — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 05:53:47 -0800

More than a playlist, I'm trying to make an entire sub-set of my music collection: I want the music that a 17-year-old D&D playing geeky almost-metalhead would be listening to...in 1981. For the purposes of this, obviously the range goes 1981 (somewhat arbitrary, 1982's fine too, (I was just slightly too young at the time to have much recollection of the music.)) and backwards. It's actually the backwards that's tripping me up -- I can find 'best of 1980' and so on, but hunting through that for what someone would be listening to as part of their own collection is somewhat difficult.

As regards to availability: I'm not going out and finding rare LPs -- I'm looking for music that is available today. That being said, if it's not available in stores but is 'available,' that's ok.

Help ID this tattoo on metal dude Kvarforth from Shining!

punkrockrat — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 14:56:03 -0800

What is this tattoo? - Nicklas Kvarforth, from the swedish metal band SHINING has a tattoo on his chest that I am trying to identify. Any tattooists or art aficionados may have seen this before - can you help? I realize that this can also be a completely customized piece of work too, but I'm going on the chance that this may a copy of something that already exists. Anyway, the tattoo in question is the little skeleton dude on this chest - you can see it in any of the following photos: here, here, here and here.

Must See in D.C.

misha — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:21:58 -0800

Cheap eats and must-sees in D.C. for three adults and three teens? Bonus for any vegetarian-friendly options! We're taking our guys and heading to D.C., where we'll be joining our oldest son's girlfriend and her Mom for five days. We have tickets to the Capitol tour and plan to stop in the Holocaust museum, but we need suggestions for inexpensive places to eat (girlfriend is a vegetarian), as well as your picks for must-sees in town. I'd prefer places you've actually visited, thanks.

Also, I've always enjoyed the Smithsonian--any suggestions for exhibits our teens might especially enjoy as well? We have goths, metalheads and gamers to entertain in the party.

Metal Fabrication

aladfar — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 16:04:18 -0800

Metal Fabrication: I'd like to design small objects and see them realized in stainless steel and/or aluminum. How would I go about this? Specifically: What design software should I use and what services are available for custom fabrication? By small objects, I'm thinking of everything from small tools and pens (two pieces that screw together) to simple geometric shapes.

Are Erector Set pieces magnetic?

Jimmie — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:25:09 -0800

Are Erector Set pieces ferromagnetic? Paramagnetic? Neither? I would assume they are made of aluminum, in which case the answer is neither. But I can not find any answers on the web.

What about the connecting pieces like bolts and screws?

Shriek/grunt/growl-free metal?

CrazyGabby — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:29:23 -0800

I'm looking for music similar to Within Temptation (symphonic metal, preferably female-fronted). Should be easy, but there's a catch... No "death vocals". No screaming, grunting, growling, or shrieking. Any more than an extremely infrequent couple of seconds here or there is pretty much out.

I love the sound of really intense driving, epic-sounding music with an amazing singer, and the best example I can come up with is Within Temptation. I *think* it's called symphonic metal, or goth metal, or symphonic goth metal...I have no idea. I know almost nothing about the metal genre and it's 12,304 subgenres. Pandora played one of their songs, I checked them out and I love everything they've done (except Enter, b/c of the screaming), and now all of the typical recommendations I can find have the #@*$ death vocals. And I'm pretty sure those types of vocals are really just part of the genre, which makes searching kind of tricky.

I'm not tied to a female-fronted band, as I love passionate male singers as well, but they have to be SINGING.

Help?

Metal window blinds at a decent price?

korpios — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:38:34 -0800

Where can we buy metal window blinds at a reasonable price? Our cats are systematically destroying all of the cheap plastic blinds in our apartment, and we'd like to restore some privacy to our home. This never happened in our previous apartment, which was equipped with metal blinds. Big-box home improvement stores seem to be a pricey option; we've found plenty of online retailers, but we don't know enough about any of them to choose one. Any suggestions, Window-Anti-Cat-Armor-Filter?

The mehhhhh-tal dooooogs! Bow, buh nuh naw!

gally99 — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:06:35 -0800

I need some help coming up with metal/dog puns. "Dog breath to false metal". Things like that. More that I've thought of:
Heavy metal barking lot
I want to break fleas
Livin' after midnight, barkin' till the dawn (not so sure about this one)
EYEHEARTDOG

Any genre of metal, maybe even some punk rock and hardcore and whatnot.

Are cheap fish oil capsules OK?

bobbyno — Mon, 25 May 2009 12:01:19 -0800

Are Trader Joe's Salmon Oil capsules still good for you even though they are so much cheaper then health food store brands? I would like to take fish oil capsules for health benefits but I found that the prices of fish oil capsules that are "molecularly distilled" and therefore, clear of toxic heavy metals, are very expensive. But, I found that Trader Joe's carries molecularly disitilled salmon oil capsules and sells them for $7 for a large bottle. A comparable bottle of the health food store brands would be $30 to $50 or more. How can this Trader Joe's Salmon Oil be so inexpensive? Are they really a high quality supplement that is benficial to take?

Paging OrangeSwan especially...

EmpressCallipygos — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:10:18 -0800

I have a rusty metal TV tray I want to refinish somehow -- where I can I find DIY web sites that would tell me how? (My Google-fu has failed me in my own searching.) I'm still in the idea-gathering stage (do I want to paint it? decoupage? what?), and want a site that would also mention what I need to do at each stage (do I need to sand it? Strip off the existing paint? If I'm doing X technique, do I need to use Y sealant?)

Unfortunately all I can find are sites that are SELLING refurbished TV trays, which is vexing.

Making vectors out of old cuts

Foam Pants — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:42:46 -0800

I have been loaned a set of metal cuts from an old press. I need to create vector images from these items. Should I scan the cut or an impression from the cut and, after picking a method, what would be the best process to get a sharp image?