The Early 1990s, The Rise of Grunge and Changing Tastes in Metal

In past blog posts, I have briefly mentioned how heavy metal’s popularity declined once grunge was introduced in the early 1990s. In this post, we are going to examine that era of heavy metal a little more closely.

In the early 1990s, the tastes of the American public began to change. In 1991, four very important albums were released. Metallica released The Black Album, which totally changed the mindset of thrash metal bands around the world. The Black Album took a more mainstream approach to Metallica’s music, incorporating elements of hard rock. The album was such an immediate success that record labels started pressuring other thrash metal groups to follow in Metallica’s example.

Certain bands managed to adapt and become more mainstream, but many bands could not keep up and were either tossed from the mainstream to the underground world of heavy metal, or were forced to break up. The success of The Black Album coincided succinctly with the rise of grunge. The American public was more interested in dark rock music than ever before. They wanted albums by bands that weren’t flashy with their music or image. Henceforth, thrash metal quickly lost popularity and no longer became supported by mainstream record labels.  

The disappearance of thrash metal left a void in the heavy metal mainstream. That void was kind of filled by groove metal bands such as Pantera, Machine Head and Lamb of God, but groove metal still struggled to maintain popularity, and only Pantera was really successful at first. Pantera was seen as an anomaly for the most part. The difference between Pantera and other groove metal groups is that Pantera's attitude was similar to those of grunge acts. Their angsty vibe was appealing to both fans of grunge and thrash metal alike. That was what made Pantera such an instant success in the eyes of the public.

Alternative metal took the place of thrash metal more fully. The genre became popular because of its similarities to grunge. Alternative metal artists (just like grunge artists) were down to earth and never tried to look flashy or play over-the-top music. The genre was mixed in terms of what was musically acceptable, but for the most part, the music was darker and filled with more angst. Alternative metal musicians were the first metal musicians to really not dress up or try and “look metal.” Most of them looked like average members of the American youth, but just so happened to harbor musical talents. This resonated with the audience in the 1990s and led to the fast paced growing of the genre. 

Alternative metal’s rise came very shortly after the release of Nirvana’s Nevermind, Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger and Pearl Jam’s Ten in 1991 (the three other important albums mentioned above). Nevermind, Badmotorfinger and Ten helped launch grunge and alternative rock into the world of mainstream rock music. The public fell in love with these acts that bridged hard rock and heavy metal in a way that had never been done before. 

As grunge rose, glam metal got totally obliterated. The images and music of the bands in these two scenes completely contrasted with one another. Grunge was down to earth, had more relatable lyrics and dark music. Glam metal, on the other hand, was based in a heavy metal wonderland and was a genre that focused on almost unrealistic dreams and desires. One genre definitely had to go, and it ended up being glam metal. 

With changing trends in the taste of the public, heavy metal became completely different within the scope of only a couple of years. The genre of music started to become an underground phenomenon as fans fell in love with grunge, alternative rock and more hard rock-based metal groups. Beneficial changes to the genre came from the grunge scene, and now metal is much more diverse and eclectic than it ever was before.

Groove Metal

Welcome back, metalheads! It has been a long summer break, but now it is time to get back to business by discussing more subgenres of heavy metal music. For the next month or so, this blog is going to focus on mainstream heavy metal.  The first fairly mainstream subgenre that we must discuss is groove metal.

In the early to mid-1990s, the core thrash metal bands of 1980s mainstream heavy metal all took different turns. Their audience was shifting interests and they had to shift with them in order to maintain their popularity.

Some bands made the transition fairly well. Metallica released The Black Album in 1991, which would become their most financially successful album to date. Megadeth released Coutdown to Extinction, which also proved to be wildly successful. Even bands such as Anthrax and Testament managed to consistently keep a solid audience by slightly shifting their style. 

Other bands massively failed in their attempts to reinvent themselves, though. The quality of Slayer’s music declined sharply in quality, and bands such as Exodus, Sepultura and Kreator had a difficult time keeping up as well. 

The subgenre of heavy metal that essentially replaced thrash metal during this time was known as groove metal. This style of music was similar to thrash metal in many ways, but the noticeable difference between the subgenres was that groove metal relied on mid-paced rhythmic grooves instead of the relentless fast-paced riffing that characterized thrash metal. Groove metal was essentially pioneered by three bands: Pantera, Machine Head and Lamb of God.

Pantera was one of the first bands to really pioneer the subgenre and was definitely the first to give groove metal mainstream attention. Many critics accuse Pantera of copying the musical style of the rather unknown band Exhorder, but Pantera only acknowledges the group as an influence. Pantera entered the metal mainstream with their 1990 album Cowboys from Hell. It wasn’t until their follow-up record, Vulgar Display of Power, that they became known by every angst-ridden teenager in America. Pantera dominated mainstream heavy metal for many years until the band eventually broke up in the early 2000s. Since then, their guitarist, Dimebag Darrell, was murdered onstage by an insane fan, completely ruling out the idea of an eventual reunion.

Machine Head was another huge pioneer of groove metal. Machine Head released their debut album, Burn My Eyes, in 1994. Burn My Eyes soon became a heavy metal classic. From there the band slowly progressed into the nu metal subgenre, isolating most of their fan base. In 2004, after being turned down by almost every mainstream metal record label around the world, they somehow managed to get Through the Ashes of Empires released through Roadrunner Records. The album was viewed as a major return to form, and the band reached the peak of their success with their follow-up record, The Blackening. Last year they released Unto the Locust which was viewed by critics and fans alike as a very solid follow-up to the masterpiece that was The Blackening. 

Lamb of God took groove metal in a new and heavier direction in 1999 by releasing their debut, Burn the Priest. Since then, they've helped the subgenre make the transition into the 2000s with New American Gospel, As the Palace Burns and Ashes of the Wake. Lamb of God weren't inventors of groove metal, but they have managed to pioneer the subgenre in substantial ways, drastically aiding its development and allowing it to remain a popular style once Pantera and Machine Head began to disintegrate. Lamb of God continues to be one of the most successful and well-respected heavy metal bands around today. 

Groove metal isn’t a very large subgenre, but it’s a crucial one in the history of heavy metal music. Today, many bands still practice and contribute to the subgenre and groove metal remains alive and well.