Whiskey-soaked Southern Metal out of Texas.

Chain Driven is a Southern metal band from McLeansboro, Illinois, fusing the heavy groove of Southern rock and metal with working-class grit and bluesy riffing. Their approach echoes the swampy, slow-burning heaviness associated with the American South.

Denver's Chingaso rolls out a thick slab of Southern metal and stoner rock heaviness, bringing desert-baked riffs and a loose, confident groove to the Colorado underground. Their sound is built for long nights and heavy haze.

Lake Charles, Louisiana's Choke combines sludge metal's swampy density with Southern groove and the blunt force of heavy riffing deeply tied to the Gulf Coast's murky musical tradition. Their sound is thick, hot, and relentless, rooted in the swamp.

Boston's Chuggernaut merges groove metal's locked-in heaviness with Southern metal's swagger, an unlikely but effective combination in a city more associated with hardcore and punk. Their music is built around thick mid-tempo riffs designed to move crowds.

Tulsa's Cirkus blends Southern metal swagger with heavy groove, delivering thick riffs and a road-worn attitude rooted in Oklahoma's hard rock underground. Their music is equal parts dirt and electricity.

Jackson, MS southern metal act Cledus Snow bring a swampy, beer-soaked groove to the Deep South metal tradition. Their music is rooted in heavy blues-inflected riffs and a no-pretense attitude toward the genre.

Savannah's Conquer/Devour bring the swampy weight of Southern metal into slow-grinding sludge territory, soaking their riffs in the oppressive heat and rot of coastal Georgia.

Long Island's Constricted mix Southern-influenced heaviness with thrash metal's aggression, crafting a hard-edged sound that blends the grit of the East Coast scene with a hard-swinging grooves.

Batesville, Indiana act combining death metal brutality with the groove and drawl of Southern-inflected metal, bringing something distinctly regional to the extreme end of the spectrum. The rural Midwest heaviness they carry is genuine.

Raleigh, North Carolina institution that helped define the intersection of Southern sludge, crossover thrash, and heavy rock across four decades of relentless output. Their influence on heavy American music is vast and their riffs remain some of the genre's most enduring.

Atlanta doom and sludge outfit dragging Southern heaviness through thick walls of distortion and oppressive low-end. Their sound draws from both the misery of doom and the grimed-out grit of the ATL underground.

Tennessee Southern metal band rooted in the folklore and heavy musical tradition of the American South. Creek Devil channels regional mythology into slow, grinding heaviness with an unmistakable Appalachian character.

Los Angeles band Crowned by Fire draw on Southern-fried riff traditions and stoner metal's slow-burning haze to craft music that feels simultaneously sun-baked and menacing. Thick grooves and a dusty, unhurried swagger define their sound.

Troy, New York's Dead Rabbits carry the Southern sludge and stoner metal tradition deep into the Northeast, delivering heavy, swamp-soaked grooves far from their genre's geographic home. Lumbering riffs and fuzz-thick tones anchor everything they do.