Mortal Remains are a groove and thrash metal band out of Queens, New York City, fusing the head-down punch of groove metal with thrash aggression rooted in the NYC underground.

Sioux City, Iowa's Morthereon blend melodic death metal's hook-driven intensity with the mid-paced heaviness of groove metal, carving a distinctive space for themselves in the Midwestern extreme underground since 2017.

Out of Whitney Point in rural upstate New York, Motivational Death merge groove metal's mid-paced swagger with the blunt force of death metal, creating a sound that favors heavy impact over technical display. The band formed in 2021 and embraces a sardonic, wry edge in both name and approach.

Los Angeles progressive groove metal outfit Mountainhead approach heaviness with a rhythmic sophistication that separates them from the genre's more straightforward practitioners, weaving syncopated groove into ambitious, shifting song structures. Formed in 2016, they represent a more cerebral and technically adventurous corner of the LA metal scene.

Townsend, Massachusetts' Mucklers Circle carve out an unusual niche by mixing Southern metal swagger with New England-forged groove and metalcore aggression, resulting in a genre-blurring take on heavy music that has no business working as well as it does since 2015.

Seymour, Connecticut's Murder Castle blend the mid-paced crush of doom metal with groove metal's punchy, riff-driven momentum, landing somewhere between funeral-paced misery and headbang-ready swagger. Active since 2012, they're one of the more distinct voices in New England's heavy underground.

Elwood, Indiana's Murderdrome mix the grinding heaviness of death metal with groove metal's thick, mid-paced riff vocabulary, forming a band as blunt as the small-town Midwest landscape they come from. Founded in 2022, they're among the younger acts pushing Indiana's metal scene forward.

Omaha groove metal outfit MurderHouse have been delivering heavy, riff-forward metal since 2015, fitting neatly within the tradition of bands that prioritize thick groove and punishing tone over technical complexity. Nebraska's largest city doesn't produce metal acts in abundance, making MurderHouse one of its more notable heavy exports.

Phoenix groove metal act Murkocet bring the desert's brutality to bear on heavy, mid-paced riff-craft since 2018, the band name itself a sardonic pharmaceutical portmanteau that hints at a dark wit beneath the heaviness. Arizona's extreme heat finds a natural analog in groove metal's punishing physicality.