New Orleans' Wasted Creation formed in 2020 at the punishing convergence of technical death metal and deathcore, drawing on a city whose musical DNA runs unusually deep even for extreme metal. The technical sophistication of their death metal side coexists with the sheer brutality of deathcore in a way that feels native to a city that has always blended traditions without hesitation. They arrived ready to inflict serious damage.

Charlotte, North Carolina melodic technical deathcore and death metal band formed in 2018, known for intricate guitar work and the kind of precision-engineered brutality that defines the technical end of the deathcore spectrum. One of the Southeast's more accomplished acts in the technically demanding hybrid of deathcore and death metal.

San Jose, California's Wrvth have one of the more interesting trajectories in extreme metal, beginning as a technical death metal and deathcore act before gradually shifting toward progressive post-metal and metalcore over the course of their career since 2010. The evolution is genuine rather than expedient, with each era of the band producing work that's stylistically distinct but consistently ambitious.