IoMP 122: Whatever Happened to Groove Metal?
Growing up in the late ’90s and early 2000s meant watching metal explode into subgenres faster than your parents could say “turn that down.” Some stuck around. Some burned out spectacularly. And some—like groove metal—went from genre-defining to “wait, does this still exist?”
This episode of the Influencers of Metal Podcast, groove metal slowly transforms from a subgenre into a philosophical concept.
The conversation starts where it has to: Pantera. From their “Glamtera” era, to the earth-shaking riffs of “Cowboys from Hell”, Collin & Tom break down how groove became the heartbeat of modern metal. The groove wasn’t just in the riffs—it was in how metal moved.
From there, the discussion fans out into the wider groove metal ecosystem, touching on bands like Sepultura, Machine Head, DevilDriver, Fear Factory, and Soulfly—all while arguing whether half of them should even be counted.
Hit play to hear the whole backstory and where Groove lies today
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