Groove metal

Groove metal
Other names	Neo-thrash, post-thrash, power groove[1]
Stylistic origins	Thrash metal hardcore punk
Cultural origins	Late 1980s–early 1990s, New Orleans, New York City, Texas, U.S.
Derivative forms	Nu metal metalcore
Local scenes
New Orleans
Other topics
List of groove metal bands NWOAHM sludge metal tough guy hardcore crossover thrash

Groove metal, sometimes also called neo-thrash or post-thrash,^[1] is a subgenre of heavy metal music 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, 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 and metalcore, and continued to gain traction in the 2000s with Lamb of God, 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.^[2] Loudwire stated that "Unlike so many other styles of metal, groove metal is one that doesn't have rigid boundaries and incorporates industrial, death metal, nu-metal, hardcore and a lot more."^[3] Music journalist Gary Graff also noted the influence of hardcore punk as integral to groove metal.^[4]

History

Origins

Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell, 1991. Pantera is credited with popularizing the groove metal genre.

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.^[5] Exhorder, formed in 1985, recorded their first demo in the summer of 1986,^[6] playing a style that was influenced hardcore punk and metal, as well as jazz, funk, blues and the music of Mardi Gras.^[7] The band were immediately influential in the New Orleans metal scene, with pioneering sludge metal bands Eyehategod, Soilent Green and Crowbar all playing some of their earliest live performances in support of them.^[6] 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 (1990).^[8] VH1 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.^[9] A number of writers have also noted the Bad Brains's post-1987 music, particularly Quickness (1989), as helping to pioneer the genre.^[10][11]

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, as well as Black Sabbath, the Cramps and gothic rock. 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.^[12] The band began leaning into the nascent sound of groove metal on their second album Make Them Die Slowly (1989).^[13] 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 chart in 1993^[14] and was certified double-platinum by the RIAA in July 1998.^[15] White Zombie's music videos were featured on Beavis and Butt-Head, helping to increase the band's sales.^[16] Their 1995 follow-up Astro Creep: 2000 peaked at number 6 on the Billboard 200^[17] and sold 104,000 copies in its first week of release;^[18] it was certified double-platinum by the RIAA.^[19] White Zombie's song "More Human than Human" achieved mainstream success in 1995, peaking at number 53 on Billboard's Radio Songs chart,^[20] number 7 on the Alternative Songs chart,^[21] and number 10 on the Mainstream Rock Songs chart.^[22] The song was played frequently on MTV and won the Best Metal/Hard Rock Video award at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards.^[23]

Texas heavy metal band Pantera's 1990 album Cowboys from Hell is often considered the album that codified and popularized groove metal.^[24] 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.^[25][26]

Thrash pioneers Metallica's Black Album (1991) included multiple groove metal tracks, including "Sad but True"^[27] and "The Struggle Within".^[28] Brazilian band Sepultura, previously established as having deathrash sound, released their fifth studio album Chaos A.D. 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.^[29] Sound of the Beast author Ian Christe credited Chaos A.D. with helping to developing groove metal and as being widely influential.^[30] 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.^[31]

Developments

Machine Head performing in 2007

Follow the widespread success of Pantera, White Zombie and Machine Head, the genre expanded with notable subsequent groups including Skinlab, Pissing Razors, Grip Inc., Merauder, Pro-Pain, GZR, and Stuck Mojo.^[9] Additionally, several veteran thrash bands began to change their sound in favour of groove metal. Anthrax, 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).^[32][33][34] This was continued by the releases of Sacred Reich's Independent (1993),^[35] Overkill's I Hear Black (1993),^[36] Coroner's Grin (1993),^[37] Testament's Low (1994),^[38] Forbidden's Distortion (1994)^[39] and much of Annihilator's 1990s output.^[40]

In the 2000s, a second wave of groove metal bands emerged, including Damageplan, Lamb of God, Chimaira and DevilDriver.^[2] 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.^[41] 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.^[42] Hellyeah formed in 2006 and featured Vinnie Paul of Pantera also saw commercial success.^[43] The 2010s saw the formation of Killer Be Killed^[2] and Bad Wolves.^[44] Malevolence's third studio album Malicious Intent (2022), saw widespread success and included the influence of groove metal and sludge metal into beatdown hardcore and metalcore.^[45] Metal Hammer cited them as a definitive groove metal act.^[46]

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 nu metal and metalcore, two of the most commercially successful subsequent metal genres.^[2] 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."^[9]

See also

• List of groove metal bands
• New wave of American heavy metal
• Tough guy hardcore
• Sludge metal
• Nu metal

References

1. Stevens, Anne H.; O’Donnell, Molly C. (January 23, 2020). The Microgenre: A Quick Look at Small Culture. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 978-1-5013-4582-1.
2. Martins, Jorge. "10 Essential Bands to Get Into Groove Metal". Retrieved November 2, 2024.
3. "DevilDriver's Dez Fafara – My 11 Favorite Groove Metal Albums". Loudwire. May 10, 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
4. Graff, Gary. 501 Essential Albums of the '90s The Music Fan's Definitive Guide. Motorbooks. p. 121. Pantera's second major-label release found the band going further into the creation of what the Texans dubbed "groove metal," an alloy of thrash and hardcore punk but with swagger.
5. Rosenberg, Axl; Krovatin, Christopher (October 24, 2017). Hellraisers: A Complete Visual History of Heavy Metal Mayhem. Race Point Publishing. p. 172. Perhaps the first true groove metal bands were New Orleans's Exhorder, whose fuzzy guitar tone was uniquely sexy; and New York City's Prong, whose weirdo conceptual thrash went more for kinetic impact than grandiosity. However, groove metal's real claims to fame are two of metal's most important bands regardless of genre.
6. "Exhorder's Slaughter In The Vatican: 25 Years Later". Invisible Oranges. Retrieved November 1, 2024.
7. Collins, Dillon (September 29, 2019). "EXHORDER's Kyle Thomas: "Instead of Angry Young Man Music, I Will Just Write Angry Old Man Music."". Retrieved November 1, 2024.
8. Martins, Jorge. "10 Essential Bands to Get Into Groove Metal". Retrieved November 2, 2024.
9. Coyle, Doc. "Hidden Gems: Rediscovering The '90s Post-Thrash Groove Metal Scene". VH1. Archived from the original on May 24, 2022. Retrieved July 30, 2018.
10. Knowles, Christopher (October 2010). The Secret History of Rock 'n' Roll. Viva Editions. The Bad Brains would split up shortly after releasing Rock for Light, a 1983 LP produced by new wave maestro Ric Ocasek, but they reformed in 1987 as a pioneering groove-metal outfit.
11. Foster, Nathan (August 26, 2020). "Top 10 Bad Brains Songs". Retrieved November 2, 2024.
12. Krovatin, Chris (June 3, 2016). "Cro-Mags, CBGBs, and Cockroaches: White Zombie's Sean Yseult Remembers NYC Metal's Lawless Past". Vice Media. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
13. Chillingworth, Alec (December 2020). "Every Rob Zombie and White Zombie album ranked from worst to best". Metal Hammer. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
14. "White Zombie Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
15. "American album certifications – White Zombie – La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1". Recording Industry Association of America.
16. Browne, David (October 8, 1993). "White Zombie resurrected by 'Beavis and Butt-head'". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on February 18, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
17. "White Zombie Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
18. Mayfield, Geoff (September 12, 1998). "Between the Bullets". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 37. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 130. ISSN 0006-2510.
19. "American album certifications – White Zombie – Astro Creep: 2000". Recording Industry Association of America.
20. "White Zombie Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
21. "White Zombie Chart History (Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
22. "White Zombie Chart History (Mainstream Rock Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
23. Considine, J. D. (September 8, 1995). "MTV chases 'Waterfalls' Jackson, Miller all wet". New York Daily News. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
24. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Cowboys from Hell – Pantera". AllMusic. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
25. Sandow, Greg (April 22, 1994). "The message behind Pantera's angry sound". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
26. "Picks and Pans Review: Far Beyond Driven". People. May 9, 1994. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
27. Enis, Eli. "METALLICA: HEAR PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED VERSION OF "SAD BUT TRUE"". Revolver. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
28. Starkey, Arun (August 12, 2021). "Revisiting Metallica's landmark 'Black Album' as it turns 30". Retrieved November 2, 2024.
29. "Out Now: Sepultura, CHAOS A.D." Rhino Entertainment. October 13, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
30. Christie, Ian (2003). Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal (First ed.). London: Harper Entertainment. p. 264. ISBN 006052362X.
31. "Metal/Hard Rock Album Sales In The US As Reported By SoundScan". Blabbermouth.net. April 30, 2002. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
32. Weingarten, Christopher R. (September 14, 2011). "Anthrax and Joey Belladonna Keep It In the Family". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on December 1, 2011. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
33. Kielty, Martin (May 25, 2018). "How Anthrax's 'Sound of White Noise' Kicked Off the John Bush Era". Ultimate Classic Rock. Archived from the original on April 27, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
34. Wiederhorn, Jon (July 1993). "Anthrax - Sound of White Noise review". SPIN. Vol. 9, no. 4. p. 79. Archived from the original on September 19, 2023. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
35. Bergman, Keith. "CD Reviews - Independent (Reissue) Sacred Reich". Blabbermouth.net. Archived from the original on April 27, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
36. Jennings, Chris (March 9, 2016). "I Hear Black: Is It Overkill's Most Underrated Album?". Worship Music. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
37. Wolfers, Jeremy (December 18, 2012). "Coroner - Grin (album review 2)". Sputnikmusic. Archived from the original on September 19, 2023. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
38. Geadom (September 14, 2017). "Testament - Low (album review)". Sputnikmusic. Archived from the original on September 19, 2023. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
39. "Forbidden – Distortion Review". Metal-Nerd Blog. October 7, 2011. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
40. "ANNIHILATOR: "BALLISTIC, SADISTIC"". No Clean Singing. February 13, 2020. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
41. "Vinnie Paul, Legendary Drummer for Pantera & Damageplan, Dead at 54". Billboard. Retrieved June 23, 2018.
42. Monger, James Christopher. "Five Finger Death Punch". AllMusic. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
43. Rolli, Bryan (April 10, 2022). "15 Years Ago: Vinnie Paul Triumphs Over Grief With 'Hellyeah'". Retrieved November 2, 2024.
44. "Album Review: Bad Wolves - Disobey". New Noise Magazine. May 7, 2018. Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2018. [...]it's not surprising that the name of the game here is groove metal
45. Heilman, Max (May 18, 2022). "REVIEWSAlbum Review: MALEVOLENCE Malicious Intent". Retrieved September 30, 2024.
46. "A beginner's guide to groove metal in 5 albums". Metal Hammer. May 31, 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2024.