Sepultura's 1993 album Chaos A.D. marked the band's shift toward groove metal.
Chaos A.D. was Sepultura's fifth studio album and was released by Roadrunner Records in September 1993. The Brazilian band had built its reputation through fast death- and thrash-metal records such as Beneath the Remains and Arise, but the new album used slower tempos, heavier rhythmic emphasis, and lower guitar tunings.
The change was deliberate. Sepultura wanted to avoid repeating the Arise formula after touring that material extensively, so songs such as “Refuse/Resist,” “Territory,” and “Nomad” emphasized weight and groove over sheer speed. The album also broadened the band's palette with hardcore-punk, industrial, Brazilian percussion, and the acoustic instrumental “Kaiowas.”
Chaos A.D. is often discussed alongside Pantera's work in accounts of groove metal's development. That does not make Pantera the answer: Pantera helped define the wider style, while Chaos A.D. was the Sepultura album that signaled this particular transition.