A progressive metal outfit from the Philadelphia suburb of Broomall, Pennsylvania, Clockwork blended symphonic prog complexity with technical metal muscle, drawing comparisons to Yes and Dream Theater. Their lone album Surface Tension showcased lush keyboards, intricate rhythms, and soaring guitar melodies.

Minneapolis death-doom outfit Cobra Czar pair crushing low-end heaviness with groove-driven swagger and mid-paced menace. They occupy a filthy intersection of groove metal and death metal that hits hard in the Twin Cities underground.

Denver groove and stoner metal band Cobranoid blend sludgy bottom-end with locked-in rhythmic punch and an attitude to match. They're a reliable fixture in Colorado's heavy underground, serving up beefy riffs with swagger.

Queens, New York groove and thrash metal band Code 6 bring the aggressive, street-hardened edge of New York City metal to tightly wound groove and thrash riffs. They reflect the borough's long history of tough, no-frills heavy music.

Punishing Industrial / Groove Metal out of Texas.

Bergen County, New Jersey's Cold-Blooded Capitol plays groove-infused thrash that inherits the dense riffing legacy of the New York/New Jersey metro scene while leaning into the stomping rhythms that defined groove metal's peak.

De Queen, Arkansas groove metal outfit Combat Valley bring a Southern-fried heaviness to a genre defined by pocket and punch. Big riffs and a swaggering mid-tempo attack anchor their sound in the heartland.

Pleasant Hill, California's Concealed meld groove metal's mid-tempo swagger with nu metal's heavy atmosphere and occasional thrash bite, landing in the aggressive pocket of late-90s Bay Area heaviness.

Tullytown, Pennsylvania's Concoct stir together death metal's extremity and groove metal's rhythmic swagger, concocting a sound built for pit-ready heaviness.