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.

Of Mice & Men is a metalcore and post-hardcore band formed in Costa Mesa, California in 2009 by vocalist Austin Carlile and bassist Jaxin Hall following Carlile's departure from Attack Attack!. The band built a significant following through a string of Razor & Tie releases including The Flood (2011) and Restoring Force (2014), the latter of which charted in the Billboard Top 10. Carlile departed in 2016 due to a long-term health condition, and the band has continued releasing albums under varying lineups, with nine studio albums total through 2025.

Of Mice and Men formed in Costa Mesa, California, in 2009 after Austin Carlile's departure from Attack Attack!, with Carlile and Jaxin Hall launching the band during the peak of the late-2000s metalcore and post-hardcore wave. Their 2010 self-titled debut introduced a volatile sound built on screamed vocals, clean melodic hooks, sharp breakdowns, and emotionally charged lyrics, with "Second & Sebring" becoming an early signature song. The Flood followed in 2011 and strengthened the band's position in modern metalcore, while Restoring Force in 2014 expanded the sound toward alternative metal and nu-metal-influenced groove without abandoning heavy riffs. After major lineup changes, bassist Aaron Pauley moved into the lead vocal role, and the band continued through albums such as Defy, Earthandsky, Echo, Tether, and Another Miracle. The current lineup of Pauley, Valentino Arteaga, Phil Manansala, and Alan Ashby has leaned into a heavier but more streamlined version of the band's identity. Of Mice and Men's catalog traces a path from scene-era metalcore intensity to a broader modern metal sound built around resilience, melody, and rhythmic weight.

Washington, D.C.-area progressive metal architects Periphery are widely credited with popularizing the djent movement, with guitarist Misha Mansoor's polyrhythmic, heavily processed guitar tones and the band's complex compositions redefining what modern metal could sound like. Albums like 'Periphery II' and the two-part 'Juggernaut' cycle demonstrate a band equally comfortable with crushing low-end heaviness and soaring, emotionally resonant clean passages. Their DIY origins as an internet-based project that evolved into one of prog metal's biggest acts mirror the digital transformation of the entire music industry.

South Florida's Poison the Well were instrumental in shaping the post-hardcore and metalcore landscape of the early 2000s, with 'The Opposite of December' and 'Tear from the Red' introducing a level of atmospheric sophistication to screamo that few peers could match. Their willingness to evolve — from the chaotic early material to the shoegaze-tinged experimentation of later albums — earned them cult status as one of the genre's most forward-thinking bands.

Poppy has turned constant reinvention into the center of her music, moving from uncanny internet-era pop performance into a body of work where metal, industrial rock, electronic music, and art pop collide without warning. The early Poppy.Computer period framed her voice through synthetic brightness and character-driven surrealism, while Am I a Girl? began introducing heavier guitars and sharper genre friction. I Disagree made that shift unmistakable, setting sugary melodies against serrated riffs, screamed eruptions, and industrial-metal abrasion. EAT pushed further into metalcore intensity, Flux recast the heaviness through grunge and alternative rock textures, and Zig pivoted into darker electronic pop before Negative Spaces returned to a heavier blend of metalcore, alternative metal, synth-pop, and arena-sized hooks. Poppy's strength is not simply that she changes styles; it is that the changes feel connected by a controlled sense of discomfort. A sweet vocal line can become threatening, a polished chorus can split open into noise, and a heavy riff can appear like a rupture in the song's surface. Her catalog treats genre as unstable material, making the contrast between gloss and violence the point.

Rev3rent are an Apple Valley, California deathcore band whose rapid emergence reflects the new wave of online-native heavy acts built around violent low tuning, horror imagery, and short-form impact. Active from 2024, the six-piece quickly drew attention with releases such as Last Trace, Decimate, My Hand, Your Demise, ...Of Blood And Brutality, and Been There, Mutilated That. Their music fits metal scope directly through deathcore and metalcore, with breakdown-heavy structures, guttural vocals, slam touches, and production designed to hit hard on streaming playlists and in small-room pits. Rev3rent's songs tend to favor blunt immediacy over technical sprawl: quick buildups, sudden drops, hostile vocal phrasing, and titles that lean into gore and confrontation. That makes them part of a younger deathcore ecosystem where visual identity, social media circulation, and live clips can accelerate a band's presence before a full-length album arrives. The appeal is simple but effective: they sound mean, compact, and built for crowd movement. Rev3rent are still early in their development, but their momentum shows how a new heavy band can form an identity quickly by combining deathcore tradition with modern distribution, relentless imagery, and a clear appetite for touring.

Ringworm are a metalcore and hardcore band from Cleveland, Ohio, with origins tracing to 1989 under the name Force of Habit and formally operating as Ringworm from 1991. Blending first-wave black metal aesthetics with New York hardcore and thrash aggression, the band released multiple albums through Victory Records and have maintained their reputation as one of the most consistently punishing live acts in American hardcore over more than three decades.

River Black are a New Jersey metalcore and hardcore band formed around 2016 by guitarist John Adubato and drummer Dave Witte (Municipal Waste) following the dissolution of Burnt by the Sun, completing the lineup with bassist Brett Bamberger (Revocation) and vocalist Mike Olender. The band released their self-titled debut on Season of Mist in 2017, channeling post-hardcore intensity through a technical lens informed by their members' extensive backgrounds in death metal and hardcore.