Alabama's Halgena have been crafting melodic black metal since 2012, weaving cold atmospheric passages into material that still carries genuine ferocity. Location unknown within the state, but their sound is unmistakably Northern in character.

Fayetteville, Arkansas's Hand of the Wicked combine melodic black and death metal with the kind of conviction that only comes from building something serious in a place where the scene doesn't hand anything to you. Formed in 2023.

Arizona's Harad emerged in 2022 with melodic black metal that feels both epic and austere, channeling the desert state's vast, sunburned landscape into something cold and expansive.

Chicago's Haunted Knight channel melodic black metal into a sound that balances scorching intensity with dark, sweeping atmosphere, carving out a presence in the Midwest underground since 2022.

Akron's Hieros draw on the melodic black metal tradition to create music that is sweeping without being saccharine, atmospheric without surrendering aggression. Since 2020 the project has built a sound that sits somewhere between the triumphant and the grim.

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's Horde of the Eclipse have been forging melodic black metal since 2010, threading cold riffing and atmospheric darkness into compositions that feel celestial and menacing in equal measure.