Groove metal is a subgenre of thrash metal which essentially takes the intensity and sonic qualities of thrash metal and plays it at mid tempo, only making occasional forays into fast tempo. It features heavy, strong angry vocals usually influenced by hardcore punk and sometimes death metal, deep, heavy often downtuned bass lines, tough, strong and very heavy beats, down tuned guitars playing heavy, chugging, groovy-like riffs and typical heavy metal solos. Groove metal bands have also been influenced by genres such as southern rock and funk metal. The genre emerged in the early 90s, and was very influential to the nu metal movement of the late 90s as well as the 90s metalcore scene.

Prominent examples of groove metal include Pantera (often considered the founders of the genre), Exhorder, Lamb of God, Sepultura and Machine Head.