Fargo, North Dakota doom and sludge metal band Coffin Burner channel the flat, frigid desolation of the Northern Plains into slow, oppressive heaviness. They're one of the defining acts of North Dakota's small but determined metal underground.

Miami, Florida sludge metal band Coffin Dancer bring the oppressive heat and murk of South Florida to their slow, punishing sound. They're a welcome addition to Miami's growing heavy underground, operating in the humid space between sludge and doom.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin grindcore and sludge metal band Coffin Dodger combine the abrasive, short-burst brutality of grind with the slow-burn punishment of sludge. They represent a volatile extreme metal hybrid from the Great Lakes underground.

Johnson City, Tennessee's Coffin Smoke grind out slow-burning doom and sludge metal soaked in murk and misery, conjuring a suffocating heaviness that settles in like a fog that never lifts.

Westminster, SC's Coffin Torture drag listeners through oppressive corridors of doom and sludge metal, stacking massive, feedback-drenched riffs with a suffocating sense of dread.

Indianapolis's Coffinworm built a cult following with their caustic mix of black metal, doom, and sludge — bleak, punishing records like IV.I.VIII place them among the Midwest's most uncompromising acts.

COG deliver a corrosive fusion of death and sludge metal — downtuned, grinding riffs collide with visceral intensity in music that prioritizes ugliness and weight above all else.

Chicago's Cokegoat stretch sludge metal across progressive song architectures, blending crushing heaviness with dynamic shifts and a willingness to let songs breathe and evolve over extended running times.

Chico, California's Cold Blue Mountain blend sludge and stoner metal into thick, sun-baked dirges, layering languid heaviness with a psychedelic undercurrent that keeps the music expansive and hypnotic.

Tempe, Arizona's Collapsian merges sludge metal's toxic weight with doom's deliberate pace, a desert-baked heaviness that trades the genre's usual damp griminess for something sun-dried and abrasive.

New York's Collapstomy brews a particularly unpleasant combination of grindcore, death metal, and sludge — ugly by design, the kind of band that seems to take genuine pleasure in musical discomfort.

Santa Fe, New Mexico's Colossal Swan Dive brings sludge metal's tortured slowness to the high desert, a project that suits the stark, wide-open landscape of northern New Mexico with unexpected precision.

Gainesville's Colossus wade through swamps of doom and sludge, wringing slow, heavy misery from every note. Their riffs lumber with the weight of oppressive Southern heat.

Dual-vocalist sludge metal/hardcore featuring Andrea Russi and Alyce H. Smith up front. A punishing addition to Houston's heavy underground.

New Hampshire's Come to Grief are a sludge-doom institution, dragging listeners through the most suffocating depths the genre has to offer. Their slow, mountainous riffs carry the misery of a long New England winter into every note.