Denver's Cordyceps take their name from the parasitic fungus and craft brutal death metal that feels appropriately invasive and overwhelming — a thick, suffocating mass of down-tuned riffs and percussive extremity. Their Colorado-based attack brings high-altitude force to low-end brutality.

Long Island brutal death metal band bringing medically-themed gore and grinding intensity to the New York underground. Their music is dense, fast, and unrelentingly brutal.

Philadelphia brutal death metal band delivering bone-crushing heaviness and guttural extremity from the City of Brotherly Love. Dense, technical, and relentlessly punishing.

Chicopee, Massachusetts brutal death metal band delivering blasphemous, gore-drenched extremity from the New England underground. Dense, guttural, and uncompromisingly brutal.

Yakima, Washington brutal death metal act bringing grinding heaviness and guttural ferocity from the Pacific Northwest interior. Their music is dense, morbid, and relentlessly heavy.

Houston brutal death metal trio fusing hardcore aggression with old-school death metal.

Elliottsburg, Pennsylvania outfit specializing in the most physically oppressive end of brutal and slam death metal, where breakdowns feel less like transitions and more like cave-ins. Their music is designed to destroy whatever room it's played in.

Indianapolis brutal death metal and grindcore outfit that makes no effort to obscure its intentions — the name says everything about the level of restraint on display. Their music is a short, violent exercise in extreme audio punishment.

Virginia brutal death metal act that weaponizes speed, blast beats, and guttural extremity. Their name says it all — they deal in punishment at the outer limits of the genre.