Brooklyn's Wretched Tsar have been dragging sludge and stoner metal through New York's underground since 2016, combining the slow, crushing weight of sludge with the hazy, amplifier-worship side of stoner metal. The result is heavy in both mass and atmosphere, made for dark rooms and loud speakers.

Columbus, Ohio outfit Wurm Sun fuse the crawling weight of doom metal with the abrasive filth of sludge, conjuring a suffocating heaviness that feels born from the industrial grimness of the Midwest. Active since 2022, their sound prioritizes atmosphere and oppressive volume over speed.

Wyoming Young and Strong are a Seattle sludge metal act formed in 2019, channeling the Pacific Northwest's tradition of heavy, feedback-laden music into dragging, punishing dirges. Their name belies the bleakness of their sound, which leans into the oppressive end of the sludge spectrum.