Washington state's Chiasmus operates in the most uncompromising reaches of raw black metal, fusing its primitive savagery with death metal's heavier attack. The band strips the music down to its most corrosive, confrontational essence.

DeLand, Florida's Chief Wiggum pairs melodic death metal's harmonic sweep with the brutal foundation of straight death metal, operating under a name that belies a genuinely serious musical approach. The band is rooted in Florida's storied extreme metal tradition.

Newark, Ohio death metal act Child Sized Coffin brings a blunt, uncompromising brutality to their music, rooted in the mid-American underground scene's no-frills tradition. Their name alone signals the unrelenting darkness baked into every track.

Indiana's Childe of Death blends melodic death metal's harmonic sensibility with the raw aggression of straight death metal, carving out a niche in the rural Midwest underground. Their approach leans on melodic leads and hooks without sacrificing outright brutality.

Phoenix's Children of Wrath layers orchestral symphonic arrangements over a base of black and death metal extremity, creating a grand and aggressive sound that aims for epic scope. The Arizona desert heat meets cold Northern European influences in their dense compositions.

Los Angeles's China Girl operates in a deliberately chaotic space, blending black metal, death metal, thrash, and experimental noise into something abrasive and unpredictable. Their willingness to disrupt genre convention makes them a singular presence in the LA underground.

Kent, Ohio's Chingada Carne delivers uncompromising brutal death metal with the kind of punishing low-end and guttural attack the genre demands. They operate squarely in the underground extreme metal tradition with no concession to accessibility.

Punishing Progressive Death Metal from Houston.

Lake Charles, Louisiana's Choke combines sludge metal's swampy density with Southern groove and the blunt force of heavy riffing deeply tied to the Gulf Coast's murky musical tradition. Their sound is thick, hot, and relentless, rooted in the swamp.