Chicago's Curbstomp combined the amphetamine pace of thrash with the swampy heaviness of sludge metal into a direct, combative sound that fit naturally into the Windy City's abrasive underground. Active from 2000, the band operated as an independent act before eventually parting ways.

Jackson, Tennessee's Curmudgeon describe their music as 'hermit metal,' a self-aware tag for their idiosyncratic mix of doom, stoner heaviness, and grindcore brevity that resists easy categorization. Active since 2006, the Tennessee outliers built a small but devoted following by doing exactly as they pleased in the middle of nowhere.

Henderson, Texas death/grind act delivering fast, violent, and purposefully brief sonic assaults. Cursed Ibex merges the extremity of grindcore with the heaviness of death metal in grinding East Texas fashion.

Columbus, Ohio death/grind band blending the speed and brevity of grindcore with the brutal riff vocabulary of death metal. Curta Alis delivers short, sharp, and relentlessly violent extreme metal attacks.

Pittsburgh grindcore and metalcore band fusing brief, violent grind blasts with the heavy breakdowns of metalcore. Cutting Ties channels the Pennsylvania city's underground intensity into short, punishing bursts.

Yorktown, Virginia technical death and grindcore band named for a Lovecraftian entity, merging clinical precision with brutal extremity. Cyaegha delivers technically demanding death metal with the frenzied velocity of grind.

Boston death/grind band operating in the New England extreme metal underground with an unrelenting approach to brutality and noise. Cynicism attacks with short, punishing blasts of combined death metal and grindcore aggression.

Asheville, North Carolina brutal death and grindcore band piling grotesque extremity onto a foundation of pummeling low-tuned riffs and blast-beat ferocity. Cystic Nourishment weaponizes Appalachian underground intensity through the most unrelenting corners of extreme metal.