Spokane, Washington death/thrash project. Eastern European-flavored extremity from the Inland Empire.

Lincoln, Nebraska death metal project. The Portuguese word for 'sharpener' channels blade imagery from the Great Plains.

Tampa death metal institution active since 1998, amassing a dozen releases that span the full spectrum of Scandinavian-influenced extremity. From the epic narratives of Jomsviking to the Norse mythology of Deceiver of the Gods, they bring a melodic death metal sensibility honed in Florida's legendary extreme metal proving ground.

San Jose, California death metal project. Drowning in Bay Area extremity.

Salem, Utah death metal veterans grinding since 2008. Their catalog includes studio albums, live recordings, and a retrospective collection spanning their early years, documenting a band deeply committed to the underground from the unlikely environs of the Beehive State.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana death metal project. Walking with corpses in the capital of the Pelican State.

Uniontown, Ohio death metal outfit whose 2005 debut Human Meat Gluttony announces its intentions from the title alone. Brutal, unsubtle, and committed to the gory end of the death metal spectrum.

Dayton death metal project from the Ohio underground.

Raleigh death metal project from the North Carolina underground.

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.