BASK is a stoner rock and post-rock band from Asheville, North Carolina, active since 2012 and distinguished by an unusual integration of Americana songwriting with heavy, reverb-saturated stoner and desert rock. The band began recording their debut album American Hollow in 2014, followed by Ramble Beyond (2017) and III (2019), all released via Season of Mist. They have toured alongside High on Fire and Black Tusk, and their regional Appalachian flavor sets them apart within the broader sludge and stoner rock sphere.

Broughton's Rules is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania instrumental post-rock and math rock band founded in 2009 by members including guitarist Jeff Ellsworth, formerly of Don Caballero and Blunderbuss. Their debut album Bounty Hunter 1853, released on Relapse Records in 2010, was praised for blending heavy post-rock, Krautrock, and Morricone-influenced guitar work, with the band explicitly distancing themselves from technical math rock conventions in favor of song-first composition. Their instrumental approach positions them at the intersection of Don Caballero's angular math formalism and the more atmospheric textures of post-metal.

City of Caterpillar formed in Richmond, Virginia in 2000, becoming one of the central acts in the early American screamo movement alongside Pg. 99 and Majority Rule, building lengthy compositions that shifted between near-ambient quiet and shattering emotional climaxes. The band released a self-titled full-length and split releases before disbanding in 2003, with the recordings gaining wider recognition in subsequent years as touchstones of the form. The band reunited in 2016 and released their second album Mystic Sisters in 2022.

Cloudkicker is the solo project of Columbus, Ohio-based guitarist Ben Sharp, a commercial airline pilot who has released instrumental post-metal and djent music under that alias since 2007. Sharp composes, records, and engineers everything himself, and has distributed all releases as pay-what-you-want downloads under Creative Commons licensing, amassing an unusually large following for a DIY studio project. His breakthrough album Beacons arrived in 2010, and a short touring run in 2014 with Intronaut as a backing band marked his only live performances.

Don Caballero were a math rock band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, formed in 1991. Driven throughout their career by drummer Damon Che, the band helped define the genre with intricate time signature work, dissonant guitar interplay, and meticulous compositions drawn partly from jazz. Their 1995 album Don Caballero 2 and 2000's American Don are considered genre touchstones; guitarist Ian Williams went on to co-found Battles. The band dissolved in 2009 after several acrimonious lineup shifts.

Akron, Ohio instrumental post-rock and post-metal band If These Trees Could Talk formed in 2005, built around the Kelly brothers and a three-guitar lineup that emphasizes layered melodic density and dynamic range. Their discography spans three full-length albums — Above the Earth, Below the Sky (2009), Red Forest (2012), and The Bones of a Dying World (2016), the last released through Metal Blade Records — with all prior releases subsequently reissued by that label. The band's heavier post-metal leanings distinguish them within a genre often dominated by more delicate approaches.

San Diego multi-instrumentalist Jimmy LaValle launched The Album Leaf in 1998 as a solo project while playing guitar in post-rock band Tristeza, initially self-releasing limited cassette experiments in ambient texture and field recordings. The project gained international recognition after Sigur Rós took LaValle on tour, leading to the acclaimed Sub Pop release In a Safe Place (2004), a landmark of delicate, orchestrated instrumental ambient music. LaValle has continued releasing records under the name, expanding the project to include a full live band and occasional vocals.