Asheville, North Carolina black/thrash/punk band ripping through the Blue Ridge Mountains since 2014. Four releases deep, they channel Venom and Midnight into a Southern-fried blackened speed attack with a punk rock backbone.

Springfield, Massachusetts metalcore institution that helped bring melodic death metal influences into mainstream American heavy music. Their later work shifted toward melodic hard rock while maintaining their metal edge.

New York City melodic death metal project. Encompassing everything that exists through Scandinavian-influenced extremity.

Denver/Fort Collins melodic death metal act and one of Colorado's most acclaimed heavy bands. Their technically virtuosic, science-themed approach to melodeath has earned them international recognition.

Chesapeake melodic death metal project with a Castlevania-inspired aesthetic and five releases since 2021. The project channels gothic horror themes through Scandinavian-influenced melodic death metal with a nostalgic, video-game-soundtrack flair.

Winchester, Virginia doom merchants conjuring heavy, psychedelia-laced riffs since 2017. Named after the genus of poisonous mushrooms, their catalog sprawls across multiple EPs and full-lengths that explore the intersection of crushing weight and hypnotic repetition, from the lysergic haze of Love³ to the pandemic-era Quarantine in Warm.

Hillsboro, Illinois melodic death metal project with a remarkably deep catalog for a small-town act. Five releases between 2010 and 2017 trace an evolution from raw melodeath into progressive territory, with album titles that hint at a philosophical bent lurking beneath the dual-guitar harmonies.

New York City melodic death metal project launched in 2024 with a single sporting one of the longest titles in metal history. The absurdly named debut suggests a band with a sense of humor about the genre's conventions while still delivering the goods.

Florida melodic death metal project. The amniotic reference channels prenatal imagery through Scandinavian-influenced extremity.

Amherst, Ohio melodic death metal project doubling as the creative engine behind Amniote Editions, a label operation with an almost scientific approach to releasing music. Their catalog reads like a research database — catalogued with genetic nomenclature — but the music itself delivers genuine melodeath power.

Tampa, Florida melodic death metal project. Walking among titans in the city that raised them.

Jamestown, New York deathcore and melodeath project. Piercing beauty from the southern tier of Western New York.

Greenville, South Carolina melodic death metal outfit whose 2016 self-titled EP captures a band channeling Scandinavian melodeath traditions through a Southern lens. The Palmetto State may not be melodeath's obvious home, but Amorpheus makes a strong case.

Crushing Technical / Avant-garde Death Metal / Grindcore out of Texas.

Springfield deathcore project from the Massachusetts underground.