.springofdrownedpanda. is a sludge metal project from Peekskill, New York, named after the cursed springs of Ranma 1/2. Active since 2009, the project's self-titled EP features five tracks of crushing sludge with absurdist titles referencing the anime's mythology. A 2021 follow-up single continued the theme, suggesting a project as devoted to its conceptual humor as to its crushing low-end.

.Tallow. is a noise rock and sludge metal project from San Francisco, California, releasing the three-track "Crack Tracks" EP in 2011. With songs like "My Baby's Gone (She Left Me for a Cult)," the project blends abrasive sludge riffing with the angular dissonance of noise rock. The release captures the grimy, confrontational energy of the Bay Area's heavy underground.

137 is a sludge metal project that relocated from Petoskey, Michigan to the Rochester/Canandaigua area of New York, releasing an eight-track debut in 2024. The album features unconventional instrumentation — including bass clarinet — woven into a framework of crushing sludge. The project brings an experimental, avant-garde approach to heavy, distorted music.

16 is a sludge metal institution from Los Angeles, California, with a massive catalog spanning ten releases and over 100 tracks since 2009. The band is one of the defining acts of the LA sludge scene, dealing in nihilistic, feedback-drenched heaviness that has influenced countless bands. Their prolific output and uncompromising vision have made them a cornerstone of American sludge metal.

Duvall/Seattle/Los Angeles sludge metal project whose absurdist name reflects a refusal to take anything seriously. Multi-city sludge with a sense of humor as thick as their tone.

Tampa, Florida crust punk and sludge outfit. Aggressive, politically charged heaviness from the birthplace of Florida death metal.

Bellingham, Washington sludge metal project with one of the most imaginative names in the underground. The mythological curio cabinet title promises something genuinely weird from the Pacific Northwest.

Massachusetts sludge metal and hardcore punk project. Spectral visions rendered in crushing heaviness from the Bay State.

Santa Rosa, California sludge metal project. The name promises an epic narrative of despair from Sonoma County's wine country underbelly.

Thibodaux, Louisiana sludge metal project. Bayou heaviness from the sugarcane country of southeastern Louisiana.

Abominate is a black and death metal band from Pennsylvania. Active since 2011, the band has released an EP and a full-length, with 2020's "A rotten mind becomes violent" delivering eleven tracks of blackened death metal hostility.

Abrams is a sludge and post-metal band from Denver, Colorado. Since their 2014 debut EP "February," the band has released three full-lengths of massive, emotionally charged heaviness, with their sound evolving from raw sludge into expansive post-metal territory across a decade-plus career.

Legendary sludge metal band from Houma, Louisiana, whose two albums When the Kite String Pops and Paegan Terrorism Tactics became cornerstones of the genre. Blending doom, death metal, and Southern gothic darkness with Dax Riggs' haunting vocals, Acid Bath disbanded in 1997 after the tragic death of bassist Audie Pitre.

Cheyenne, Wyoming funeral doom and sludge project. The name builds a dystopian religious hierarchy from one of America's least populated state capitals.

Brooklyn sludge metal project. The name's visceral, stomachic imagery channels physical discomfort through crushing heaviness.