GROOVE METAL (part 2)

Groove metal has its orgins within thrash metal, however the later years of the 80's saw many thrash metal bands taking a different approach, as many thrash metal bands had influences by many hardcore punk and crossover bands. Bands like Nuclear Assault, Cro-mags, and others, helped influence a new wave of bands, such as Exhorder, Pantera, Prong, White Zombie and Sepultura who many cite as some of the earliest groove metal bands.

Some groove metal bands had influence on nu metal bands and some bands took many elements of groove metal, including the use of low, down-tuned guitars, groovy riffs and lyrical attitudes. Some groove metal bands such as Machine Head can be seen as a "direct link" to later nu metal bands, combining groove metal with hip hop elements.

Machine Head and Fear Factory experimented with nu metal briefly during the late 1990s and early 2000s but abandoned the style on their latest offerings after being unsatisfied with the results later in their careers and from mixed fan opinions, mostly from those who favored the more heavy metal aesthetic approaches.

A number of thrash metal bands became inspired by the original wave of groove metal and began taking up groove-oriented directions in their later careers. This is most notable in Overkill (band), Annihilator, Sepultura, Testament, Slayer, and Anthrax. The reaction from thrash metal fans has been largely mixed. The direction technical post-thrash band Meshuggah have undertaken on their last few offerings has been largely groove-oriented.

Many sludge metal bands resemble groove metal, since many make use of down-tuned power chords and mid-tempo or slow rhythms and song structures, although sludge metal is generally slower in tempo and more minimalistic than groove metal. However, sludge metal formed earlier than groove metal and most sludge bands have a more distinct hardcore punk influence than thrash metal. Many groove metal bands such as Pantera took influence from sludge metal.

The riffing style of many current metalcore bands also has some similarity to groove metal and certain bands, such as Lamb of God and Chimaira are considered to be both metalcore and groove metal. Both bands released albums at the time metalcore reached mainstream popularity in the early 2000s, and prominently feature hardcore or even death metal style vocals, yet their musical style and guitar riffs more closely resemble groove metal than the majority of metalcore bands. Metalcore and Groove Metal genres are very closely related, being that they both owe their influence to the crossover hardcore-heavy metal bands of the 80's, however, Metalcore tends to have fewer guitar solos in favor of a more rhythmic, punk-style approach, whereas Groove Metal usually contains basic traits akin to traditional metal, including solos and virtuosity.