Brookfield, Illinois's Earthen has been crafting an unusual folk/gothic metal hybrid with ambient threads since 2005, a project that moves at its own pace and defies easy categorization in the Chicago suburb's quiet underground.

One of the more singular voices in American underground metal, Olympia's Echtra has spent over two decades weaving atmospheric black metal, drone, and folk into meditative, earth-bound compositions that defy easy categorization.

Grand Rapids, Michigan's Eissturm blends black metal with folk and ambient textures, crafting music that evokes the wooded isolation of the Great Lakes region since 2013. Pagan themes and wintry atmosphere run through their output in equal measure.

A Virginia folk/black metal project formed in 2021, Eldaskal weaves pagan melodic sensibility through black metal's fury. The name evokes the Old Norse tradition of skalds — poet-singers — a fitting emblem for music that values lyricism and storytelling.

Draper, Utah's Elderwood draws on atmospheric folk and black metal traditions to evoke the ancient forests and wide landscapes that sit just beyond the Wasatch Front. Active since 2016, the band channels a pastoral, deeply rooted mysticism.

Orlando thrash metal project from the Florida underground.

Boulder folk/melodic death metal band weaving acoustic textures and Scandinavian-influenced melodic death riffing into something distinctly tied to Colorado's mountain landscape since 2016. The folk elements feel organic rather than decorative.

Washington State's Equilibrium have been navigating black metal's cold terrain since 2001, channeling the Pacific Northwest's atmospheric bleakness into raw, uncompromising music. Their catalog reflects the region's tradition of isolation-bred intensity.

Rochester's Eternal Crypt bridge melodic black metal, folk metal, and power metal into a layered style that draws on ancient mythology without abandoning the aggression at the core. Active since 2018, they are among upstate New York's more genre-restless acts.