Black Crown Initiate formed in Reading, Pennsylvania in 2012, blending technical death metal with progressive and atmospheric elements. The band self-released their debut EP Song of the Crippled Bull in 2013, which earned them a deal with eOne Music and later Century Media Records. Full-lengths The Wreckage of Stars (2014), Selves We Cannot Forgive (2016), and Violent Portraits of Doomed Escape (2020) established them as one of the more adventurous acts in modern progressive death metal, drawing early touring exposure alongside Goatwhore and Behemoth.

Of Legends is a Texas-based metalcore and extreme metal project associated with Luis Dubuc of The Secret Handshake, formed around 2010. Their debut Stranded featured drum contributions from Travis Orbin of Periphery and Sky Eats Airplane, earning early notice from figures including Ben Weinman of The Dillinger Escape Plan. The project occupies an aggressive space within modern metalcore, leaning toward heavier and more technically demanding territory than Dubuc's other work.