Out of Rosamond, California — a high desert town between the Mojave and the Sierra Nevada — Nomar emerged in 2021 playing heavy/thrash metal that carries some of that sun-baked isolation in its tone. Their Bandcamp handle references 1971, a nod to the classic heavy rock and proto-metal era that clearly informs the band's no-frills approach to riffcraft. Nomar occupies the space where heavy metal's melodic instincts and thrash's kinetic energy collide without overcorrecting toward either extreme.

New York's Non-Residents bring a crossover thrash sensibility rooted in the convergence of hardcore punk's urgency and thrash metal's technical aggression, a tradition with deep roots in the Northeast underground. Formed in 2021, the band channels the raw energy of the genre's 1980s origins while keeping the delivery unpolished and high-velocity. On a scene level, they represent a genuine commitment to crossover as a living style rather than a nostalgia exercise.

Portland, Oregon's None craft atmospheric and depressive black metal that leans heavily into the Pacific Northwest's capacity for sustained emotional darkness, layering textured guitar work over long-form compositions that resist resolution. Formed in 2020, the project operates in the tradition of DSBM acts that treat misery not as performance but as genuine artistic terrain, building music that is immersive and unsparing in equal measure. Their Bandcamp, slash-none, is a fitting handle for a project that positions itself as erasure rather than presence.

Long Beach thrash outfit North Side Slashers launched in 2021 with the genre's classic playbook firmly in hand — aggressive riffing, locked-in rhythm section work, and a street-level attitude that owes as much to crossover hardcore as it does to the Bay Area's thrash legacy. The Southern California setting gives their sound a gritty, urban edge that suits the music well. They're a band that understands what thrash is supposed to feel like.

Murrieta's Nostalgia have been carrying the heavy/thrash torch since 2004, delivering a sound rooted in the classic American metal tradition — crunching riffs, hooky choruses, and an energy that nods to the genre's glory days without feeling like a museum piece. Two decades into their run, they represent Southern California's persistent underground drive to keep classic metal alive and uncompromising.

Mean Groove Metal out of Texas.

Chicago's Not-Us emerged in 2021 bridging the raw aggression of hardcore with the grinding intensity of death and thrash metal, a combination the city's notoriously tough underground scene has embraced. Their trajectory from thrash/death roots toward a more hardcore-driven attack reflects a band constantly sharpening their edge, channeling urban grit into fast, confrontational music.

Toledo, Ohio's Notara came together in 2019 to deliver death/thrash metal with a precision and ferocity that punches well above the band's years in existence. Their approach fuses the surgical riffing of classic death metal with the velocity and aggression of thrash, carrying on the Midwest's tradition of no-frills extreme metal built on pure craft.

Three-time Grammy-nominated progressive metal band known for elaborate live shows with custom-built instruments.