Milwaukee's Face of Ruin began in 2011 blending progressive death metal with metalcore, gradually tightening their sound into something more direct and deadly without losing the compositional ambition.

Chicago's Faces of the Bog have been constructing psychedelic, progressive sludge-doom since 2016, blending the Windy City's experimental instincts with the heavy emotional weight of doom and sludge.

Out of Mathews, Louisiana, Factor 8 blend groove metal's driving rhythms with the thick, swampy heaviness of sludge metal — a combination that wears the bayou in every note since 2018.

San Diego's progressive metal scene has a newer entrant in Fadrait, formed in 2023 and built on the genre's love of unconventional structure, technical ambition, and music that refuses to stay in one place for long.

Fort Lauderdale's Faethom has been one of South Florida's more ambitious metal acts since 2011, fusing black metal's cold intensity with progressive structures and traditional heavy metal muscle into something distinctly their own.

Adventurous progressive metal from Dallas with folk-tinged storytelling.

Raleigh's Faith in Ashes has been one of North Carolina's more technically adventurous extreme metal bands since 2009, weaving black and death metal together through progressive structures that give their violence a sense of arc and intention.

Philadelphia progressive metal act Fallen Keys have been crafting complex, introspective heavy music since 2018, in a city with a long and serious relationship with progressive and extreme styles. Their name suggests a musical sensibility steeped in tension — notes withheld as much as struck.

Washington state's Fallen Martyr have spent over a decade developing a progressive death/thrash sound that prizes structural complexity alongside aggression, formed in 2010. Their music moves through unexpected shifts in tempo and texture, refusing to settle into the predictable patterns of either genre.

Omaha power/progressive metal outfit Fallen Reign have been constructing ambitious, melody-driven heavy music since 2015, operating from a Midwest city that punches well above its weight in underground metal. The power and progressive combination suggests big riffs, soaring vocals, and the structural restlessness to keep things from settling into formula.

Bronx-based Falling Antares occupy a rare position in the New York metal scene: extreme progressive metal with a genuinely adventurous structural approach, active since 2015. Named after one of the sky's most massive dying stars, they pursue the kind of dense, sprawling compositions that demand — and reward — total attention.

One of the more ambitious acts to emerge from the technical death metal world, Fallujah started as a deathcore band before evolving into something far more expansive — layering atmospheric textures and progressive structures over punishing heaviness. Based in Nashville, they've pushed the genre's boundaries since 2016 without abandoning its brutality.

Mount Prospect, Illinois's Fantasm weaves progressive metal ambition together with the melodic urgency of power metal, active since 2023. The suburb of Chicago is an unlikely incubator for this kind of soaring, technically adept sound, but it works.

An Indiana progressive metal outfit formed in 2015, Farwatch explores the territory where metal's heaviness meets rock's melodic sensibility. Their sound is expansive and carefully arranged, leaning into the complexity that defines the progressive metal and rock crossover.

Technical Progressive Metal from Austin, Texas (early); Champaign/Chicago, Illinois (later).