Chandler death metal project from the Arizona underground.

Crushing Technical / Avant-garde Death Metal / Grindcore out of Texas.

Seattle death metal project whose name tells you everything about their approach — maximum detonation, no subtlety required. A blast of pure extremity from the Emerald City's underground.

Knoxville death metal project from the Tennessee underground.

Louisville black/death metal outfit active since 2007, named after the Greek dramatic term for a moment of critical recognition. Four releases spanning nearly two decades trace an evolution from raw extremity to more nuanced compositions, with Petrified Feathers and Overton Trees bookending their creative arc.

Tucson sludge metal duo conjuring apocalyptic heaviness from the Arizona desert since 2017. Their releases — Monuments to Departed Worlds and The Elysian Void — deal in the kind of monolithic, slow-burning devastation that sounds like the Sonoran landscape crumbling to dust.

Ypsilanti, Michigan death metal act whose name belies surprisingly competent extreme music. Their 2017 debut Astralthrone and follow-up Doomkeeper pair cosmic themes with punishing death metal, operating from the fringes of the Detroit metro area's underground.

Houston death metal project. The name alone serves as a mission statement for uncompromising extremity.

Pittsburgh death metal project. Steel City brutality with a name that leaves nothing to the imagination.