Stoner metal is a subgenre of metal music that combines elements of doom metal with elements of psychedelic rock and blues rock to create a melodic yet heavy sound. Like stoner metal's close relative genre stoner rock, riffs are often groovy and psychedelic, while the tempo of the music as a whole is generally slow to mid paced. The guitar tuning is kept low and, unlike stoner rock, there is an additional emphasis on a bass-heavy sound. This form of music was first pioneered in the early 1990s by such bands as Kyuss, Sleep, and Cathedral.
Several of the genre's earliest establishers shared a common characteristic in that both band members and fans alike were frequent marijuana users. This fixation on cannabis, which can also be found within the lyrics of many songs, when combined with the heavy and psychedelic sound of the music gave the genre its now defining nickname as stoner metal. Due to the similarities in styles, some stoner metal bands will borrow and incorporate certain aspects of sludge and vice versa.