Seattle's Ghuuliathe have been crafting atmospheric black metal of unusual depth and isolation since 2015 — long-form compositions where Pacific Northwest rain and gloom seep into every passage, producing something cosmically bleak and hypnotically cold.

From Sierra Vista, Arizona — a border town in the shadow of the Huachuca Mountains — Ghâshthrak have been channeling death metal, black metal, and grindcore into something raw and geographically extreme since 2019. The desert's harshness runs through every blast beat.

Plano's Giant of the Mountain fuse progressive ambition with the raw extremity of black and death metal, building sprawling, technically demanding compositions that refuse to settle into any single genre. Their work since 2010 rewards patience and repeated listening.

A Chicago project born in 2023, Giard bridges the grime of black metal with the directness of classic heavy metal, finding menace in the space between the two. It's a new act with an old-world sense of darkness.

Chicago's Gidim channel the Sumerian concept of restless, wandering spirits into a sound where black metal collides with punk energy and speed. Raw, confrontational, and rooted in the city's underground since 2014.

Simi Valley's Gilted Woods summon a black metal atmosphere rooted in woodland imagery and cold desolation, working in the second-wave tradition with a distinctly California-suburban sense of isolation. Formed in 2015, they find darkness in the sun-baked edges of suburban sprawl.

Portland, Oregon's Gimp attack from 2017 with a blackened thrash approach that's all speed, spite, and stripped-back ferocity. They weld the misanthropic spirit of black metal onto thrash's most violent impulses without ceremony or compromise.

Lafayette, Louisiana's Girra draw from both black metal's cold fire and doom's glacial tempos, creating music that feels rooted in the murky, swampy darkness of their Gulf Coast home. Formed in 2015, they merge northern grimness with southern rot.

Philadelphia's Girsu — named for an ancient Sumerian city — approach progressive black metal with a conceptual depth that matches the civilizational weight of their inspiration. Since 2021, they've been mapping interior and historical darkness simultaneously.