Out of Kinder, Louisiana, Count Szar lay down oppressive walls of drone and doom metal, favoring ritual repetition and maximum low-end density. Their music feels rooted in the bayou's sense of isolation and slow-moving dread.

Tempe, Arizona's Crematorium explore the slow and suffocating overlap of black metal atmosphere and drone metal stasis. Their desert-forged sound is minimal and oppressive, shaped by the bleakness of the Southwest landscape.

Minneapolis doom/drone/sludge band Crone build extended, suffocating soundscapes from the ground up, embracing the glacial pacing and tonal density of the heaviest strains of underground metal.

Experimental solo metal project from Seattle, created by xenharmonic composer and microtonalist Deja Igliashon, using a 23-step microtonal scale to produce dense, unconventional music at the crossroads of drone, stoner, and progressive metal. Albums like Our Crumbling Psychic Infrastructure showcase a sound that defies easy genre classification.

Oakland, California's Culper Ring blend the drone metal's meditative heaviness with unusual folk metal textures, creating patient, long-form music with a pastoral and ritualistic quality. Named for the Revolutionary War spy ring, their sound is layered with subtle historical intrigue.

Duluth, Minnesota's Dead Guy in a Swamp emerged in 2025 with drone and sludge metal perfectly suited to their city's fog-laden Lake Superior shoreline. Slow, crushing, and deliberately murky — just like the name suggests.

Massachusetts' Dead Sisters move through sludge, drone, and doom in long, deliberate arcs, building weight through repetition and sheer sonic density. Their music rewards patience and punishes anyone seeking immediate gratification.

Santa Cruz's Death Monk dissolve black metal, drone, and doom into long, psychedelic rituals that feel like watching a Pacific coast storm roll in — slow, immense, and spiritually disorienting. A genuine outlier in the California underground.

Madison, Wisconsin's Decarabia inhabits the slow-motion apocalypse of sludge, drone, and doom metal, building suffocating walls of low-end distortion since 2016. A different beast entirely from their name-sharing counterparts — heavier and far slower.