Groove metal, sometimes also called neo-thrash or post-thrash, is a subgenre of

heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a ...

that began in the early 1990s. The genre is primarily derived from thrash metal, but played in slower tempos, and making use of rhythmic guitar parts. It was pioneered in the late 1980s by groups like Exhorder, Prong and the Bad Brains, and then popularized by the commercial success of

Pantera Pantera () is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas formed in 1981, and currently comprised of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, and touring musicians Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante. The group's best-kn ...

, White Zombie, Machine Head and Sepultura. The genre went on to be influential in the development of the new wave of American heavy metal,

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...

and

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

, and continued to gain traction in the 2000s with

Lamb of God Lamb of God ( el, Ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, Amnòs toû Theoû; la, Agnus Dei, ) is a title for Jesus that appears in the Gospel of John. It appears at John 1:29, where John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, "Behold the Lamb of God wh ...

, DevilDriver and Five Finger Death Punch, and 2010s with Killer Be Killed and Bad Wolves.

Characteristics

Groove metal makes use of elements of thrash metal, but plays them in a slower tempo, making use of bouncy, unconventional rhythms. ''

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August of 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive ...

'' stated that "Unlike so many other styles of metal, groove metal is one that doesn't have rigid boundaries and incorporates industrial,

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

, nu-metal, hardcore and a lot more." Music journalist Gary Graff also noted the influence of hardcore punk as integral to groove metal.

History

Origins

In their book ''Hellraisers: A Complete Visual History of Heavy Metal Mayhem'', journalists Axl Rosenberg and Christopher Krovatin traced the origins of groove metal to New Orleans' Exhorder and New York's Prong. Exhorder, formed in 1985, recorded their first demo in the summer of 1986, playing a style that was influenced hardcore punk and metal, as well as jazz,

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and the music of

Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for "Fat ...

. The band were immediately influential in the New Orleans metal scene, with pioneering

sludge metal Sludge metal (also known as sludge or sludge doom) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated through combining elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. It is typically harsh and abrasive, often featuring shouted vocals, heavi ...

bands Eyehategod, Soilent Green and

Crowbar A crowbar, also called a wrecking bar, pry bar or prybar, pinch-bar, or occasionally a prise bar or prisebar, colloquially, in Britain and Australia sometimes called a jemmy or jimmy (also called jemmy bar), gooseneck, or pig foot, is a tool ...

all playing some of their earliest live performances in support of them. Prong, on the other hand, originated from the New York hardcore scene, originally playing crossover thrash, before slowing their tempos and incorporating heavier percussion on their second album ''

Beg to Differ ''Beg to Differ'' is the second studio album by American heavy metal music, heavy metal band Prong (band), Prong, released in 1990 through Epic Records. The album includes one live track ("Third from the Sun", a Chrome (band), Chrome cover) recor ...

'' (1990). ''

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

'' described the band as having "existed outside of categorical restriction", by having a sound rooted in both punk and metal, while also experimenting with elements of

industrial music Industrial music is a genre of music that draws on harsh, mechanical, transgressive or provocative sounds and themes. AllMusic defines industrial music as the "most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music" that was "initiall ...

. A number of writers have also noted the Bad Brains's post-1987 music, particularly '' Quickness'' (1989), as helping to pioneer the genre. White Zombie, formed in 1985, playing music influenced by the noise rock of Honeymoon Killers, Swans and Pussy Galore, 1970s rock of Van Halen, Kiss and

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

, as well as Black Sabbath, the Cramps and

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...

. Their early career was spent playing in the New York City noise rock scene, before being approached by the members of the Cro-Mags and Biohazard to instead begin playing in the New York hardcore scene. The band began leaning into the nascent sound of groove metal on their second album '' Make Them Die Slowly'' (1989). The band achieved mainstream success in the mid-1990s, with '' La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One'' (1992) peaking at number 2 on the

Heatseekers Albums Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

chart in 1993 and was certified double-platinum by the RIAA in July 1998. White Zombie's music videos were featured on ''

Beavis and Butt-Head ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' is an American adult animated series created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, lack of intelligence, lowbrow humor, ...

,'' helping to increase the band's sales. Their 1995 follow-up '' Astro Creep: 2000'' peaked at number 6 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and sold 104,000 copies in its first week of release; it was certified double-platinum by the RIAA. White Zombie's song " More Human than Human" achieved mainstream success in 1995, peaking at number 53 on ''Billboard'''s Radio Songs chart, number 7 on the

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart, and number 10 on the Mainstream Rock Songs chart. The song was played frequently on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

and won the Best Metal/Hard Rock Video award at the

1995 MTV Video Music Awards The 1995 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 7, 1995, honoring the best music videos from June 16, 1994, to June 15, 1995. The show was hosted by Dennis Miller at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. David Sandlin was commissioned to ...

. Texas heavy metal band

's 1990 album '' Cowboys from Hell'' is often considered the album that codified and popularized groove metal. They continued releasing influential albums through the 1990s; the 1992 album '' Vulgar Display of Power'' featured an even heavier sound than its predecessor, while its follow-up '' Far Beyond Driven'' (1994) peaked at number 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 186,000 copies its first week of release. Thrash pioneers

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

's '' Black Album'' (1991) included multiple groove metal tracks, including " Sad but True" and "The Struggle Within". Brazilian band Sepultura, previously established as having

deathrash Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressiv ...

sound, released their fifth studio album ''

Chaos A.D. ''Chaos A.D.'' is the fifth studio album by Brazilian heavy metal band Sepultura, released in 1993 by Roadrunner Records. The album saw a stylistic departure from the band's earlier thrash metal style,Barcinski & Gomes 1999, page 131. by featuri ...

'' in 1993, which saw the band slow their tempos and embrace the influence of New York hardcore acts like the Cro-Mags, Agnostic Front and Sick of It All. '' Sound of the Beast'' author Ian Christe credited ''Chaos A.D.'' with helping to developing groove metal and as being widely influential. Machine Head released their debut album '' Burn My Eyes'' in 1994. The album helped the band achieve underground success and sold over 145,000 copies.

Developments

Follow the widespread success of Pantera, White Zombie and Machine Head, the genre expanded with notable subsequent groups including Skinlab,

Pissing Razors Pissing Razors is an American groove metal band formed in El Paso, Texas in 1993. Their most recent album ''Eulogy Death March'' was released in 2021. History The band was started by brothers Eddy and Danny Garcia in 1993. Eddy played guitar ...

, Grip Inc.,

Merauder Merauder is an American metalcore band from New York City, formed in 1990. History The group formed in 1990, establishing itself on the New York hardcore and metal scene through frequent touring and a few demo releases. In 1995, the band r ...

, Pro-Pain,

GZR GZR was an American heavy metal band founded by and named after Black Sabbath bassist/lyricist Geezer Butler. The band has been marketed with three different names on different releases, g//z/r in 1995, geezer in 1997, and GZR in 2005. Most fa ...

, and Stuck Mojo. Additionally, several veteran thrash bands began to change their sound in favour of groove metal.

Anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...

, who had recently replaced Joey Belladonna with John Bush as their singer, began stepping away from their previously established thrash metal formula to a more accessible alternative/groove metal approach for the remainder of their 1990s output, starting with and including '' Sound of White Noise'' (1993). This was continued by the releases of

Sacred Reich Sacred Reich is an American thrash metal band based in Phoenix, Arizona, that was formed in 1985. The band split in 2000, but reunited in 2006. Sacred Reich has been credited, along with Testament, Destruction, Death Angel and Dark Angel, for ...

's '' Independent'' (1993),

Overkill Overkill may refer to: * Overkill (term), the use of excessive force or action to achieve a goal * Surplus killing, when a predator kills more prey than it can eat * Overexploitation, depletion of a natural resource through overharvesting ** Ove ...

's '' I Hear Black'' (1993),

Coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into Manner of death, the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

's '' Grin'' (1993),

Testament A testament is a document that the author has sworn to be true. In law it usually means last will and testament. Testament or The Testament can also refer to: Books * ''Testament'' (comic book), a 2005 comic book * ''Testament'', a thriller nov ...

's ''

Low Low or LOW or lows, may refer to: People * Low (surname), listing people surnamed Low Places * Low, Quebec, Canada * Low, Utah, United States * Lo Wu station (MTR code LOW), Hong Kong; a rail station * Salzburg Airport (ICAO airport code: LO ...

'' (1994), Forbidden's '' Distortion'' (1994) and much of Annihilator's 1990s output. In the 2000s, a second wave of groove metal bands emerged, including Damageplan,

, Chimaira and DevilDriver. Damageplan was founded with former Pantera members Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul Abbott. They released one album, '' New Found Power,'' in 2004. The band broke up in December 2004, after guitarist Dimebag Darrell was shot dead at a live performance. One of the most commercially successful groove metal groups during this time was Five Finger Death Punch, who formed in 2005 and garnered extensive chart positions and album certifications of gold and platinum in the United States.

Hellyeah Hellyeah, stylized as HELLYEAH, was an American heavy metal supergroup formed in Dallas, Texas, in 2006. The band's last lineup consisted of lead vocalist Chad Gray, guitarists Christian Brady and Tom Maxwell, bassist Kyle Sanders, and drumme ...

formed in 2006 and featured Vinnie Paul of Pantera also saw commercial success. The 2010s saw the formation of Killer Be Killed and Bad Wolves. Malevolence's third studio album ''Malicious Intent'' (2022), saw widespread success and included the influence of groove metal and

into beatdown hardcore and

. '' Metal Hammer'' cited them as a definitive groove metal act.

Influence on other genres

The groove metal genre was a driving force in the New Wave of American Heavy Metal movement, which began in the 1990s. Additionally, it influenced the development and success of

and

, two of the most commercially successful subsequent metal genres. ''VH1'' called groove metal "a musical purgatory that bridged the gap between classic thrash-y heavy metal and angst-y, down-tuned modern metal of the 21st century."

References