Phoenix's Kilk operate at the intersection of melodic death metal and straight-ahead brutality, shaping riff-driven songs with enough melodic hooks to stick. Since 2018, they've been one of the more consistent presences in Arizona's heavy underground.

Tempe's Kill Command have been grinding out death-thrash since 2017, pairing mechanized riff construction with the relentless momentum of Arizona's desert-hardened metal scene. Tight, punishing, and built to destroy live.

Brutal death metal featuring founding members of Devourment, including vocalist Mike Majewski and guitarist Brian Wynn. Signed to Comatose Music.

Heavy Thrash / Death Metal / Metalcore from Lubbock.

Newark, Ohio's Kill the Idealist channel melodic death metal with a contemporary edge, balancing aggression and melody without letting either element fully dominate. A recent arrival to the scene, formed in 2020, they show a band still sharpening its identity.

Cincinnati death metal act Kill the Messenger have been building their catalog since 2012, delivering the kind of methodical, riff-heavy brutality that defines the Midwest's quieter but persistent extreme metal tradition.

Tacoma's Kill Without Consequence emerged in 2022 at the crossroads of death metal and hardcore, trading melody for pressure — short, violent songs designed to collapse the distance between stage and crowd.

Seabrook, New Hampshire's Killbeast cast a wide net across melodic death, black, and thrash metal, arriving at a sound that's aggressive without being rigid. Active since 2010, they're one of New England's more eclectic extreme metal outfits.

Detroit's Killdozer have been dealing in death metal since 1984, forged in the same post-industrial crucible that's shaped so much of the city's heavier music. Raw, unpolished, and rooted in the Motor City's long tradition of punishing sound.

The name is absurdist; the music is not — Cincinnati's Killer Refrigerator play death-thrash that hits hard and doesn't waste time, formed in 2014 with the focus of a band that knows exactly what it wants to deliver.

Cleveland's Killer Whale Theory arrived in 2009 at the heavy end of deathcore, building songs with the structural weight and low-end density that the genre demands. A decade-plus into existence, they remain a fixture in Ohio's extreme underground.

New Orleans' Killgore came out of the gate swinging in 2022, mixing death metal's low-end crush with grindcore's sub-two-minute brutality in a city that knows how to make punishment feel celebratory.

Indianapolis outfit Kiritsis arrived in 2025 fusing the slow, tar-thick weight of sludge metal with the grime and brutality of death 'n' roll. Their sound feels like the Midwest's industrial bones being ground down — ugly, visceral, and deliberate.

Named for the legendary sunken Russian city, Denver's Kitezh has been crafting melodic and progressive death metal since 2011. Their music balances technical ambition with melodic depth, weaving elaborate song structures through the mile-high city's fertile extreme metal scene.

Heavy Melodic Black / Death Metal from Copperas Cove.