Stoner Metal
tagStarted 1990Peak 1992-2002Last big hit still active
Located in 4 routes
Fuzz-drenched, groove-heavy and psychedelic: thick down-tuned riffs swimming in warm distortion, mid-paced rolling grooves, vintage-amp tone, and bluesy, hypnotic repetition. Heavier and slower than stoner rock, it leans into Sabbath worship, desert-rock haze, and trance-inducing low-end. Trippy, warm, and built for total volume immersion.
History
Coalesced in early-90s California as Kyuss conjured the Palm Desert sound, marrying Sabbath riffs to psychedelic desert haze. Sleep stretched it into monolithic riff-meditation with 1992's Sleep's Holy Mountain, and England's Electric Wizard pushed it into crushing weight. The early-2000s 'desert rock' wave and Queens of the Stone Age widened its reach.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- AllMusic (Stoner Metal style)
- Wikipedia (Stoner metal)
- Encyclopaedia Metallum
- Decibel