Belleville, Illinois grindcore project delivering brief, violent bursts of extremity from the Metro East side of St. Louis. Minimal output, maximum aggression.

Mount Horeb, Wisconsin thrash metal act whose 2022 demo captures raw, unpolished speed metal from small-town Driftless Area. Named for exactly what they deliver.

Nyack, New York melodic death metal and progressive project whose 2020 EP Three Songs teams with producer brwnsounds for a polished take on technical extreme metal. The suburban Hudson Valley setting belies the sophistication of their approach.

Colorado Springs thrash metal project from the Colorado underground.

Illinois metalcore and thrash hybrid whose 2019 debut The Phaneron — a philosophical term for the totality of experience — pairs cerebral ambition with physical aggression. Heavier music for the thinking mosher.

Sparta, Michigan death metal outfit who released both a full-length and EP in 2019. Lynching The Lunacy and Mangled deliver West Michigan brutality with the kind of unflinching directness their name demands.

Somerset, Massachusetts death metal and grindcore hybrid with three releases since 2021. Named after charged particles, their music carries a similar volatile energy — the provocatively titled Happiness Through Fentanyl pulls no punches about the opioid crisis devastating small-town New England.

Oakland death metal and metalcore fusion named after the suborder containing dragonflies. Their 2018 debut Spawn of Odonata continues the entomological theme, building an insectoid mythology through aggressive, technically accomplished heavy music from the East Bay.

Pawnee, Illinois black metal project whose 2015 debut Sobrwydd a Disgyblaeth — Welsh for 'sobriety and discipline' — channels Celtic mythology from the flatlands of central Illinois. An unexpected marriage of Brythonic folklore and American underground black metal.