New York City black metal project with six releases since 2022, including modular synthesis sample packs that blur the line between metal and electronic experimentation. Named after the red supergiant star, their music reflects a cosmic ambition rare in the underground.

Paramount black metal project from the California underground.

Raleigh/Cary, North Carolina death metal and progressive project named after the second ring of the ninth circle of Hell in Dante's Inferno. Their 2018 debut Horrors channels literary horror through technically accomplished extreme metal from the Research Triangle.

Ypsilanti, Michigan black metal project with a prolific seven-release catalog since 2013. From self-titled EPs to splits, they've built a substantial body of atmospheric black metal from the fringes of the Detroit metro area, their invented name adding to the enigmatic presentation.

New York black metal project.

Wisconsin black metal project named after the class of marine organisms that includes corals. Their 2023 self-titled EP brings oceanic imagery to a landlocked state, filtering aquatic alien beauty through black metal's harshest frequencies.

Massachusetts black metal project whose 2022 demo Drape the Earth in Horror channels apocalyptic vision through lo-fi black metal production. A raw, atmospheric offering from New England's fertile underground.

Black metal project of unknown origin with three self-numbered EPs since 2018. The Old West name evokes frontier vigilante justice, recontextualized through raw, lawless black metal that refuses to identify its location.

Lafayette, Indiana black metal project whose 2012 debut Awaken draws on ancient mysticism from the flatlands of west-central Indiana. The Italian-Latin name — roughly 'ancient secrets' — frames their atmospheric approach to the genre.

Elizabeth City, North Carolina black metal project whose 2015 debut Ritus Sanguineum — Latin for 'blood rite' — targets organized religion with blasphemous fury. Anticlerical black metal from the rural South.

Black Metal project from the American underground.

Philadelphia black metal project from the Pennsylvania underground.

New York black metal project whose 2019 debut Silence Under The Sun pairs nihilistic philosophy with atmospheric black metal. The name's compressed formatting and the album's cosmic bleakness suggest a modern, post-industrial approach to the genre.

Black metal project that migrated from San Francisco to Brooklyn. Their Silent Hill-inspired EP and follow-up single Equivalent Exchange draw from video game aesthetics and alchemical philosophy, filtering pop-culture references through atmospheric black metal.

Snoqualmie, Washington NWOTHM project with six releases since 2014, including the umlaut-adorned First Strÿke. A prolific force in the Pacific Northwest's traditional metal revival, operating from the small mountain town famous as the setting for Twin Peaks.