Filthy Depressive / Post-Black Metal from Oak Park, Illinois (early); Texas (mid); Baltimore, Maryland (later).

Formed in 2020 in Spring Valley, California, Sator Square take their name from the ancient Latin palindrome carved into stone across the Roman world — a fitting emblem for a band weaving gothic atmosphere together with power metal grandeur. Their sound balances soaring melody and dramatic weight, with the gothic darkness of acts like Type O Negative cutting against the propulsive uplift of European power metal.

Philadelphia's Scythe of Azrael have been crafting gothic metal since 2006, drawing on the genre's characteristic blend of heavy riffing, dark romantic atmosphere, and mournful melodic sensibility. Named for the Islamic angel of death, the band wraps its heavy architecture in layers of brooding imagery and melancholy that gives their music a distinctly sepulchral elegance. Two decades into their career, they remain one of the more dedicated gothic metal acts on the American East Coast.

Death metal band from Mishawaka, Indiana, formed in 2016, operating in the dense and overlooked underground of the American heartland. Their name evokes a kabbalistic hierarchy of forces, lending a philosophical undercurrent to the brutality.

Bangor, Maine's Shadow Liege have been fusing symphonic grandeur with gothic metal's brooding romanticism since 2014, conjuring a sound built on sweeping orchestration and emotional weight. The Maine backdrop lends their atmospheric ambitions a fittingly bleak and dramatic quality.

Los Angeles' Shadow Projector traffic in gothic and doom metal with a cinematic quality native to the city, pairing slow, mournful guitar lines with the drama and romanticism gothic metal draws its power from since 2019. Their Bandcamp handle frames their work as something almost visual — projecting shadow as texture and mood.

Miami's Shadow Reborn combine progressive metal's structural complexity with gothic metal's emotional atmosphere, an unusual pairing that reflects both the ambition and the heat of their South Florida surroundings since 2015. Their approach to gothic prog leans into the dramatic without sacrificing the technical intricacy that defines the progressive side of the equation.

Chicago's Shadows Black have been working gothic metal's atmospheric and emotional terrain since 2017, building a sound around the interplay of dark melody and melancholic weight that defines the genre's best work. In a city with a rich history of underground music, they carve out space for the gothic tradition's more introspective impulses.

Hailing from Venus, Texas, Silent Deep Ocean arrived in 2024 with a sound rooted in the slow suffocation of doom and the cold grandeur of gothic metal, building a world of dense atmosphere somewhere between grief and subterranean dread.

Skeleton Rose is a gothic and groove metal band from Hallock, Minnesota — a town so small and remote it makes their very existence a statement — formed in 2019. They blend gloomy melodic gothic metal with groove metal's rhythmic punch, a combination that stands out sharply against the surrounding flatlands.

Solar Cross is a black metal band from New England, formed in 2021, cultivating a cold and austere approach to the genre in keeping with the long tradition of atmospheric and raw black metal emerging from the northeastern United States.

Something Beautiful are a Chicago, Illinois gothic metal act formed in 2020, blending the dark romanticism and atmospheric density of gothic metal with the heavy musical tradition of Chicago's metal underground.

Sonja is a Philadelphia-based heavy metal and gothic rock band formed in 2018 by guitarist Melissa Moore, known for moody, riff-driven songs that weave glam and goth influences through a classic metal framework.

Sons of Providence are a Phoenix, Arizona band formed in 2013 that blend the heavy atmosphere of gothic metal with the slow, fuzz-driven weight of stoner metal. Their sound draws from both traditions, creating a brooding, riff-heavy approach rooted in the desert Southwest.

Sorrowseed is a Boston band formed in 2012 that weaves together melodic death metal, black metal, and gothic metal into a theatrically dark and melodically ambitious sound, building a steady cult following in the New England metal scene.