Colorado Springs trio Clarion Void inhabit a murky space between black metal, death metal, and sludge, where oppressive atmosphere and dissonant heaviness collide. Their music is dense and suffocating, shaped by the high-altitude bleakness of their Rocky Mountain surroundings.

Vero Beach, FL solo black metal project Claux conjures austere, lo-fi darkness rooted in the rawest traditions of the genre. Stripping the music down to its most primitive and menacing essence, Claux operates well outside the mainstream metal underground.

Texas black/death outfit Clawhammer Coven deliver occult-tinged extreme metal rooted in the state's long tradition of underground ferocity. Their material is raw and ritualistic, steeped in darkness and disdain for polish.

Fort Smith, Arkansas heavy metal act Claymore carry on the classic tradition with no-nonsense riffing and a blue-collar approach to the genre. Their sound evokes the no-frills power of American heavy metal's formative years.

Clenching Shadow is a stripped-down, atmospheric black metal project rooted in cold, minimalist composition and a fiercely underground aesthetic. Their music is sparse and bleak, prioritizing mood and darkness over production.

Cloak formed in Atlanta, Georgia in 2013, founded by Scott Taysom and Sean Bruneau as a reaction to what they saw as a lack of dark, dangerous heavy music in the local scene. Signed to Season of Mist and later Metal Blade Records, the band combines traditional heavy metal structures with black metal atmospherics, black and roll energy, and gothic rock mood, citing Dissection, Deep Purple, and Fields of the Nephilim as core influences. Their third album Black Flame Eternal appeared in 2023.

Vancouver, WA's Cloak of Displacement inhabit the slow, suffocating intersection of black metal and drone, constructing vast, formless pieces built on dissonance and sustained tension. Their work is meditative and unsettling in equal measure.

Nashville's Cloaked produce raw, primitive black metal with a deep commitment to the genre's most unadorned and hostile traditions. Their recordings are deliberately lo-fi and confrontational, rejecting any polish in favor of pure darkness.

A one-man black metal project from Roslyn, New York, Clocktower of Hiraeth was conceived by the entity known as Myghûl the Drowned in 2018. Built around themes of history, addiction, and anti-religion, the project carved out a bleak atmospheric sound before going quiet.