Fresh out of Asheville, North Carolina in 2025, Killiad brew sludge, stoner, and doom into something slow-boiled and heavy as wet earth. Asheville's fertile heavy underground provides the perfect conditions for this kind of deliberate, bone-deep metal.

Los Angeles' King Need emerged in 2021 with a sound built on the slow grind of sludge and the hazed-out weight of stoner metal, fitting naturally into LA's tradition of downtuned heavy rock. Unhurried, thick, and deliberately oppressive.

Out of Port Orchard, Washington, Kitsa formed in 2023 where heavy metal and stoner metal meet the fog-laden Pacific coastline. Their sound has the sun-baked haze of stoner riffing tempered by the cold, overcast energy of the Puget Sound region.

Boston experimental stoner metal outfit Kultivator has been cultivating a psychedelic, boundary-pushing take on heavy music since 2016. Their willingness to fold in noise, drone, and unconventional texture into the stoner metal template reflects the city's tradition of intellectually restless heavy music.

Chicago's Ladies of Leisure bring fuzzy, laid-back riffcraft to the stoner metal and hard rock intersection, with a heavy groove that feels right at home in the Windy City's DIY scene. Active since 2014, they're among Chicago's most relaxed-yet-heavy acts.

Franklin Square's Leeds Point tap into Long Island's blue-collar metal tradition, blending heavy and stoner metal into a riff-heavy, earthy sound that has been growing steadily since 2014.

Charleston, West Virginia's Left Behind drag sludge and stoner metal through a metalcore filter, letting the Appalachian weight of their hometown seep into every lumbering riff. Slow-burning and heavy, they have been at it since 2013 with no signs of lightening up.

Minnesota's Let It Breathe lace stoner rock's fuzz-drenched groove with genuine doom heaviness, a Mankato outfit that sounds like a blizzard rolling in off the prairie — slow, thick, and inevitable.

Richmond, Virginia's Letcher have been hauling stoner and doom metal out of the city's fertile heavy underground since 2006, their sound as weathered and slow-burning as the James River at dusk.