Groove metal arguably came of age with Pantera’s third release for East/West Records, 1994’s ‘Far Beyond Driven’. Taking the sound the band had pretty much perfected on 1992’s ‘Vulgar Display of Power’ and cranking the dials into the red on all fronts, it became the blueprint for all to follow. There have been some great bands working within the metal subgenre since that time, of course, but arguably, Lamb of God set a new standard with ‘Ashes of the Wake’ in 2004.
Tag Archives: groove metal
SUBSERVIENCE – Upheaval EP
Following a busy couple of years yielding two self released EPs (one each in 2012 and 2013 respectively) and a truckload of live dates – including one in a town on a small island off the Kent coast – UK based death metallers Subservience showed no signs of resting in 2014. If you thought that the departure of a frontman might set the band back, you couldn’t be more wrong. With new blood and clearly invigorated by the near-endless touring, the band’s third release ‘Upheaval’ isn’t just hard, fast and generally uncompromising – it’s positively staggering. As you’d expect, it’s top-notch in terms of production values and overall sound, but also in the complexity and quality of the material.