Named for the cursed valley outside Jerusalem, Chicago's Valley of Hinnom weave atmospheric black metal and post-metal into sprawling, grief-laden soundscapes. Since 2014, they've built an expansive sound where desolation and grandeur are inseparable.

Formed in 2017 in Eagle, Colorado, Void Alchemy work within atmospheric black metal's wide canvas — long-form compositions that let texture and space do as much work as riffs, building toward moments of overwhelming density before pulling back into something quieter and more contemplative. The Colorado mountains are an unavoidable frame of reference here, vast and indifferent in the way the best atmospheric black metal tends to feel. They're a project concerned with creating sustained emotional environments rather than simply piling on extremity.