Heavy Metal Detector is a format for urban walks and a novel distribution platform for music created by Steve Maher. A set of metal detectors is hacked to play heavy metal music when detecting metal in the ground. Using the detectors, the walk participants will uncover hidden sounds of the city, experiencing local sites in a new way.
Heavy Metal Detector plays with metaphors of the underground and archaeology, by making musical subcultures audible at sites of historical specificity. The project pays homage to the diversity of Finnish heavy metal cultures: 9 local bands participated in the project by contributing music from their repertoire for the playlist.
The walks premiered in Maunula on 6.6.2016, in an event commemorating Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister, who had recorded an advertisement at a local gas station just before he passed away. Further walks took place in Central Helsinki landmarks, the ancient cemetery of the Old Church Park and the Citizen Square next to the Music Hall and Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art. Since then, the project has toured in 11 cities in Finland and Europe.
Heavy Metal Detector playlist
Bloody heathen: Wreckage
Brainless People: Anubis
Nuclear Omnicide: Stench of Profit
Valonkantajat: Voimasäkeet
Final Assault: Act Your Rage
Kausalgia: Vihamiehet
Albinö Rhino: The Forest Prevails
Hundred Headless Horsemen: Black Mindfullness
Steel Jungle: 7th Heaven
Thanks to
Santeri Kangasmetsä
Urban Sauna Pirkkola
The residency was co-produced by the artist and m-cult in April-June 2016, in context of the Collaborative Arts Partnership Programme, supported by the Creative Europe programme.