Groove Metal

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Groove metal is also known as neo-thrash, post-thrash, or power groove, groove metal consists of slow or mid-tempo and down tuned thrash riffs, bluesy guitar solos, greatly emphasized drum work and harsh vocals. Pantera is considered the most important groove metal act and very much revolutionized the thrash metal genre, and were followed by other influential acts like Machine Head. So great was the impact on thrash metal by groove acts like Pantera and Machine Head that already established thrash metal acts changed their style in a more groovy direction. For example, speed metal veterans Overkill took a more groove metal oriented direction on "I Hear Black", as did Exodus on "Force of Habit" and Sacred Reich on "Independent". While these would quickly return to their roots, other bands, such as Anthrax, continued to explore groove metal to the extent that their music was not even considered as thrash metal anymore. In their exploration of groove metal on "Chaos A.D." and "Roots", Sepultura gave rise to the sub-subgenre of tribal metal, whose central feature is primitive and groovy riffage. Many alternative metal bands, especially those belonging to the nu metal wave, would draw on groove metal, and perhaps that is why many post-1993 releases by acts like Anthrax and Sepultura are considered alternative metal releases. Groove metal also found its way into death metal, giving birth to the subgenre of death 'n' roll, which is included under death metal on the MMA.

Sub-genre collaborators (shared with Speed Metal and Thrash Metal):

Vim Fuego (leader)
Nightfly

groove metal top albums

Showing only albums and EPs | Based on members ratings & MMA custom algorithm | 24 hours caching

War of Words
FIGHT
4.33 | 22 ratings

Cowboys From Hell
PANTERA
4.15 | 122 ratings

Machine Messiah
SEPULTURA
4.23 | 25 ratings

WHITE ZOMBIE La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Volume 1 Album Cover

La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Volume 1
WHITE ZOMBIE
4.20 | 25 ratings

PANTERA Vulgar Display of Power Album Cover

Vulgar Display of Power
PANTERA
4.06 | 90 ratings

Sacrament
LAMB OF GOD
4.09 | 27 ratings

MACHINE HEAD Bloodstone & Diamonds Album Cover

Bloodstone & Diamonds
MACHINE HEAD
4.15 | 15 ratings

Dark Ages
SOULFLY
4.12 | 17 ratings

CAVALERA CONSPIRACY Inflikted Album Cover

Inflikted
CAVALERA CONSPIRACY
4.14 | 15 ratings

The Blackening
MACHINE HEAD
3.99 | 39 ratings

Prophecy
SOULFLY
4.08 | 15 ratings

Resolution
LAMB OF GOD
4.02 | 21 ratings

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groove metal online videos

Shkerebertb - ?????? ??????? ? ????-???????? ( Lyric video )
SHKEREBERTB
Bosh66

Order Through Blood - Clairvoyant Infringement (Official Lyric Video)
ORDER THROUGH BLOOD
Bosh66

AVERSJA: Wait (Official Music Video)
AVERSJA
Bosh66

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groove metal New Releases

Івасик Телесик і змії-канібали
Single
SHKEREBERTB

Universal Deluge
EP
DELUGGE

Kraken
Single
DELUGGE

Opus Calamitas
Album
CAEDIS

groove metal Music Reviews

EXHORDER Mourn The Southern Skies

Album · 2019 · Groove Metal

UMUR

"Mourn The Southern Skies" is the third full-length studio album by US, New Orleans based thrash/groove metal act Exhorder. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in September 2019. It´s the successor to "The Law" from 1992 and therefore the first album by the band in 27 years. There are only two out of five members left from the lineup who recorded the predecessor, which are lead vocalist Kyle Thomas and guitarist Vinnie LaBella. Exhorder formed in 1985 and their original run ended in 1994 after releasing two full-length studio albums. "Slaughter in the Vatican" was released in 1990 and featured a raw and brutal thrash metal sound, while "The Law (1992)" featured a more heavy groove influenced sound.

So with only two full-length releases under their belt, which are in two pretty different sounding musical styles, it wasn´t easy to guess which direction Exhorder would pursue on "Mourn The Southern Skies", but as it turns out there are a little of both worlds featured on the album, and some new features too. Granted "Mourn The Southern Skies" sounds the least like "Slaughter in the Vatican (1990)", but there are some fast-paced thrash metal tracks on the album. Opener "My Time", "Beware the Wolf", and especially "Ripping Flesh" are examples of that (the latter is an incredible fast-paced and aggressive track and one of the highlights of the album). "Mourn The Southern Skies" is predominantly a heavy groove laden metal album though, and sometimes the band even touch southern stoner/sludge territories. Take a listen to "Yesterday’s Bones" for proof of that. I´d mention Pantera, Down, and Crowbar among some of the artists that Exhorder share some similarities with on this album.

Thomas still has a raw voice and a powerful delivery, although his voice is a bit lower and more worn and raw sounding these days. I think they´ve made an unfortunate production choice on the vocals on some tracks as the vocals are often layered, and it has the consequence that the vocals aren´t as punchy and powerful as they could have been. A track like "Asunder" features an example of that recording technique, but it´s only a minor issue overall and only occurs on some tracks. As something new Thomas also has a clean vocal part on the opening minute of the closing 9:29 minutes long Down influenced title track. Other than the vocals, it´s the many heavy and groove laden riffs and rhythms which are the main focus of the music. There are a couple of well played guitar solos on the album too. Take a listen to the solos on the above mentioned "Yesterday’s Bones"...that´s some really great solo work.

"Mourn The Southern Skies" features a powerful, heavy, and detailed sounding production job, and although a bit more grit and rawness wouldn´t have hurt, it´s arguably a sound production which suits the material well (I wasn´t surprised to learn that Jens Bogren is credited for mixing and mastering the album). Upon conclusion "Mourn The Southern Skies" is a welcome comeback for Exhorder, but it is not an album which blew me away upon initial listen. The tracks are maybe a little too formulaic vers/chorus structured and therefore a bit predictable, but once I got locked into the heavy grooves and started to appreciate that part of the music and also got accustomed to Thomas new low register voice and more raw singing style, it all started to make more sense, and repeated spins have revealed that "Mourn The Southern Skies" is a good quality groove/sludge/thrash metal album with an emphasis on the groove/sludge and more sporadically on the thrash metal elements. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

59 days ago
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Report #878447

CHIMAIRA The Impossibility Of Reason

Album · 2003 · Groove Metal

UMUR

"The Impossibility Of Reason" is the second full-length studio album by US, Ohio based hardcore/groove metal act Chimaira. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in May 2003. It´s the successor to "Pass Out Of Existence" from October 2001 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as guitarist Jason Hager has been replaced by Matt DeVries.

The lineup change is however the least of it. As Chimaira grew increasingly tired of being called a NU metal band and the Korn and Slipnot comparisons wouldn´t cease, Chimaira made a conscious decision to adjust their sound and ditch the NU metal elements. They still play a hybrid sound which features elements from hardcore, metalcore, groove metal, alternative rock/metal (listen to the chorus on "Down Again" or "Pictures in the Gold Room" for proof of that), and even the occasional faster-paced thrash metal riffs and rhythms. Heavy Chugging start/stop riffs and rhythms spiced up with massive breakdowns and ultra aggressive hardcore vocals and the occasional clean vocal moment. Keyboard/electronics guy Chris Spicuzza spice the sound up even further providing the music with some layered atmospherics. One other big difference on this album compared to the early work of Chimaira is the omnipresence of lead guitar work.

Ditching the NU metal elements was arguably a good decision and although some listeners will still have a hard time appreciating the clean vocals alternative rock/metal parts of the music, Chimaira really are a convincing ultra heavy and fiercely aggressive band when they choose to be. They produce some of the same immediate heavy grooves and aggression as Hatebreed did on their contemporary releases (listen to tracks like "Power Trip" and "Cleansation" for proof of that), although Chimaira are overall a more diverse act. An example of that is the 13:30 minutes long instrumental album closer "Implements of Destruction".

"The Impossibility Of Reason" features a heavy, clear, and detailed sound production, which perfectly suits the material. Lead vocalist Mark Hunter and guitarist Rob Arnold are responsible for producing the album (Colin Richardson is credited for mixing) and they did a great job here, bringing out the best elements of Chimaira´s sound. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

2 months ago
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Report #868311

TORQUE Torque

Album · 1996 · Groove Metal

UMUR

"Torque" is the eponymously titled debut full-length studio album by US, California based thrash/groove metal act Torque. The album was released through Mascot Records in 1996. Torque features 4/5 of the last Vio-Lence lineup before they disbanded. Only Vio-Lence vocalist Sean Killian isn´t featured on this album, and guitarist Phil Demmel has therefore taken on the lead vocal duties in addition to playing guitar. Additional vocals are performed by guitarist Ray Vegas and backing vocals by bassist Deen Dell. After guitarist Robb Flynn left Vio-Lence to form Machine Head, the remaining members of Vio-Lence recorded a 1993 demo, but after Killian also decided to jump ship, the band felt that a name change was due.

Stylistically the material on "Torque" don´t really sound like Vio-Lence either. While there are still thrash metal riffs and ideas here and there, this is a heavier and more groove oriented metal release, and it´s obvious Torque were greatly influenced by contemporary releases by artists like Pantera, Sepultura, and especially Machine Head, which is the band they have most in common with.

In many ways this album is like listening to a tier 2 version of "Burn My Eyes (1994)" by Machine Head. It however came a few years too late to make the same impact as the mentioned classic thrash/groove metal release, and quality wise it´s sub par to "Burn My Eyes (1994)" too. When that is said there are still a couple of decent thrash/groove metal tracks featured on the album, and I´d especially mention "Nothing", as one of the strongest tracks on the album. The remaining tracks aren´t of a bad quality, but too many of them aren´t particularly memorable beyond their playing time. The album features a raw sounding production job, and at times I´m reminded of a polished demo recording. The guitars often lack sharpness and the triggered bass drums quite frankly sound awful. The vocals are raw and shouting, and while they are decent enough and suits the instrumental part of the music, they aren´t anything out of the ordinary for the style.

"Torque" is unfortunately a prime case of a band going through the motions and trying to latch on to a popular contemporary sound, because their original style is out of fashion. There´s nothing wrong with changing your style and adopting other musical elements through your musical career, but you have to still produce quality material to maintain credibility. That´s not really the case here, although the quality of the material is generally decent. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

8 months ago
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Report #865827

GRIP INC. Nemesis

Album · 1997 · Groove Metal

SilentScream213

After The Gathering finally settled on a unique and strong sound of Ethereal, Progressive Gothic-Doom on their last album, Nighttime Birds is a continuation of this sound with just a few changes. The songs overall are a bit less heavy, with clean instrumentation aplenty, and a bit of psychedelia for good measure.

Atmospheres here are layered and dreamlike, lyrics are similarly abstract, and the multi-layered vocals of Anneke usually take center stage. She’s a crazy good singer, but I will say she “over-sings” a bit for my taste. Does every single line need to be multi layered? Still though, most of the time her voice is wonderfully dreamy and captivating.

It's not as strong as Mandylion and I wish the lyrics were a bit less abstract, but songs like “Kevin’s Telescope” go down as some of the best in this style of Gothic Metal.

8 months ago
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Report #865506

LAMB OF GOD Omens

Album · 2022 · Groove Metal

Kev Rowland

Here we are with Lamb of God back with their 9th (or 11th, depending on if you count what they have released as Burn The Priest) studio album, with a line-up which has been together for more than 20 years apart from the departure of founding drummer Chris Adler after his motorcycle accident. His place was taken by Art Cruz (Prong) who has been in that seat since 2019, and this is his second album with the band and there is no doubt he has settled in really well indeed. Lamb of God are one of those bands who hit a groove early in their career, and have decided the formula works well so why change it? This means that fans of LoG have a fairly good idea of what any new album is going to sound like before they even play it, and what is wrong with that? Fans of most bands are often disappointed with how they may change direction over the course of their career, while others sound just the same as they always have, and LoG are one of those.

Bass heavy, complex riffs which often contain elements of djent, they utilise complex time signatures and styles with over-the-top aggression and brutality and a frontman in Randy Blythe who has a guttural style and a powering presence which means he is always the focal point of everything that is taking place. This is music which demands to be played as loudly as the speakers will take it so the neighbours can enjoy it as well, brutal with no room whatsoever for prisoners. I once had a very strong debate with myself about attending a Metallica gig just to see LoG who were the support, but in the end, I could not bring myself to do so, but do live in hope that one day they will be back here on our shores. Covid meant they were unable to tour ‘Lamb of God’ so went back into the studio and gave us this album far more quickly than expected, so let us hope that a world tour means just that for us down here at the end of the world. Nearly 30 years on from their inception, LoG are still delivering the metallic goods.