StoneBender is a Southern metal band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 2024, an unusual transplant of the Southern metal aesthetic — groove-heavy riffs and swampy, aggressive energy — to the Pacific Northwest.

Monroe, Louisiana sludge and southern metal band formed in 2014, grounding heavy, slow-grinding riff work in the southern metal tradition, infusing their sound with the regional grit and swamp-inflected atmosphere of the Deep South.

Experimental southern and black metal band from Nashville, Tennessee, formed in 2021, defying easy categorization by blending the atmospheric harshness of black metal with the roots-inflected heaviness of southern metal and a restlessly experimental compositional approach.

Sun Gods in Exile is a heavy metal and Southern rock-influenced band from Portland, Maine, formed in 2009, blending classic hard rock swagger with the earthy, blues-inflected grit of Southern metal.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana sludge and Southern metal band formed in 2018, channeling the suffocating heaviness of the Gulf Coast underground through down-tuned riffs and a thick, swampy production aesthetic native to the region.

Apopka, Florida groove and Southern metal band formed in 2022, delivering heavy mid-paced riffing with a distinctly Floridian character that draws from the groove metal and Southern rock-influenced heavy metal tradition.

Swatara is a Benton County, Minnesota band formed in 2012 that fuses Southern-inflected hard rock with thrash metal, delivering a gritty cross-country sound.

Virginia Beach's The Crimson Electric have been fusing Southern metal's bluesy swagger with the slow, narcotic weight of stoner metal since 2007, a combination that suits their coastal Virginia setting more than it might seem. Their music has a humid, road-worn quality to it — the kind that suggests long drives down flat coastal highways with the volume turned all the way up.

Scranton, Pennsylvania's The Hill You Die On blend the slow, suffocating weight of doom metal with the gritty, road-worn character of Southern metal, creating something that feels both regionally displaced and geographically inevitable. Founded in 2017, they traffic in the kind of heavy that builds gradually and lands hard, with a working-class authenticity that suits their northeastern industrial roots. The name alone signals their philosophy: deliberate, committed, and dug in.