Hewitt, New Jersey's Sirens formed in 2020 working across metalcore, deathcore, and death metal, combining breakdown-driven aggression with increasingly extreme sonic territory and reflecting the evolution of the East Coast heavy music scene.

Los Angeles outfit formed in 2014 who fuse the twin-guitar melodicism of Scandinavian death metal with power metal's soaring sensibility, resulting in music that is both technically demanding and built around hooky, anthemic structures. Their sound draws equally from In Flames-era melodeath and the more grandiose end of American power metal.

Spokane, Washington band formed in 2020 operating in the space between melodic black metal and outright death metal, combining riff-driven aggression with the atmospheric sweep that characterizes the Pacific Northwest's underground black metal scene. Their sound is dense and forward-moving, leaning on melodic guitar leads to cut through the harshness.

Pittsburgh band formed in 2011 who slam together stoner metal's loping, fuzz-saturated grooves with thrash aggression and a death 'n' roll swagger, landing somewhere between Electric Wizard and a swampier Entombed. Their Steel City roots come through in music that feels lived-in and deliberately heavy.

Portland, Oregon act formed in 2012 that merges the mechanical rhythmic precision of djent with the crushing weight of deathcore and metalcore, built around polyrhythmic chugging and technical breakdowns. The "Sisyphean" in their name feels earned — their music is dense, cyclical, and relentlessly uncompromising.

Charleston, South Carolina death metal and grindcore band active since 2009, delivering short, punishing blasts of savagery in the tradition of Southern underground extremity. Their name carries a sardonic religious undertone that suits the irreverent violence of grind.

Punishing Melodic Death Metal / Metalcore out of Texas.

Orange County, California melodic death metal band with roots going back to 2004, giving them over two decades in a scene that has seen plenty of turnover. Their melodic death approach is steeped in the Gothenburg tradition, applying it to the sun-baked Southern California underground.

St. Louis band formed in 2023 that drags death metal into sludge metal's murky, slow-burning territory, resulting in music that is both punishing and dense with atmosphere. As a very new act out of a city with a strong underground metal tradition, they arrive with an already fully-formed sense of the crushing and the heavy.