When thinking of groove metal, it’s easy to think of the standard tropes: huge riffs and grinding tones, often coupled with a growled vocal. Often, the results fall into a sound that draws from ‘Far Beyond Driven’ era Pantera, and ‘Ashes of The Wake’ era Lamb of God. Whenever bands borrow from these sources, the results are always impressive – despite Phil Anselmo’s insistence on ruining Pantera’s legacy in a number of ways – but once in a while, a groove metal band will come along who are just a little more interesting.
Tag Archives: groove metal
Listen: Transport League unveils new track ‘Primate Apeshit’
The new single from Transport League is a riff-centric beast that should appeal to a huge cross section of the rock and metal audience. A very cold and mechanical feel employed during the intro suggests something with an industrial heart, but the track ultimately blossoms into something very different.
THROAT LOCUST – Dragged Through Glass EP
This debut from American death metal band Throat Locust might only present three tracks, but in terms of being an effective CV, ‘Dragged Through Glass’ suggests immediate greatness. Taking elements of a classic death metal sound derived from Entombed, Bolt Thrower and Death, and fusing that with some of the heaviest groove metal touches ever, they have the subtlety of a truck, but in extreme metal terms, they could be the best band to emerge since Eaten By Sharks released their debut in a pre-pandemic 2019. Considering the release claims to be only a demo recording, that says a lot about how strong they already sound.
EATEN BY SHARKS – Eradication
Every band needs to grow; to move forward and mature. This is even true of any smart thinking extreme metal band. In the case of Ontario’s Eaten By Sharks, the musical shift between their 2019 EP ‘We’re Gonna Need A Bigger Boat’ and 2022’s ‘Eradication’ isn’t just a natural progression, but a seismic leap.
They’ve held on to their great heaviness – that was always going to be the case – but on the bulk of the material that makes up this second release, they’ve traded in some of their harsher traits in favour of a more melodic death metal approach, and a vastly improved production job allows for a much broader vocal throughout the seven tracks. This doesn’t mean they’ve wimped out or even sold out in any way, since the material is still cut from some brilliantly uncompromising riffs. It’s just a little more mature, in a good way. Unless you’re one of those narrow minded extreme metal fans who want everything to stay truly marginal, it would be hard to argue against any of these changes being for the better.
ILLA – The Body Keeps The Score EP
Formed by Tan (the ex-frontman for death metal band By The Patient) and Martin (the ex-vocalist for Danish black metal act Lupus), Illa presents something of a departure for both musicians. Combining a groove metal heart with some serious hardcore/metal crossover chops, this EP retains the kind of intensities you’d expect from both men, but uses their talents in a very different – and more accessible – way. Their four track debut is a riff heavy affair that’ll pretty much appeal to anyone with any interests in hardcore and crossover sounds, since its four tracks are a sharp reminder of why the metal infused influences from bands like Strife and Earth Crisis never seem to go out of fashion.