Worcester, Massachusetts hardcore punk and post-metal project. The existentialist name channels the ever-present awareness of mortality through heavy, boundary-crossing music from central Massachusetts.

Mobile, Alabama thrash metal project. Gulf Coast aggression trapped and raging against confinement.

Seattle death metal and deathcore project. The legal defense term repurposed as a promise of emotional violence from the Pacific Northwest.

Los Angeles black metal project whose name reads like a Japanese horror film premise. Supernatural dread reflected back from the City of Angels.

Ferocious Industrial / Thrash / Groove Metal from Phoenix, Arizona (early); Austin, Texas (later).

La Puente, California deathcore project. The name frames destruction as a calendar event from the San Gabriel Valley.

Clovis, New Mexico melodic death/thrash project. The name's simultaneous evocation of autumn and collapse channels the high plains wind into heavy music.

Blending pop-punk hooks with metalcore breakdowns in a way that shouldn't work but absolutely does, A Day To Remember have been Ocala, Florida's most unlikely export since forming in 2003. Albums like 'Homesick' and 'What Separates Me from You' became genre-defining records that bridged the gap between Warped Tour kids and metal fans. Frontman Jeremy McKinnon's ability to pivot between soaring clean vocals and guttural screams became the band's signature.

Birmingham, Alabama deathcore and melodeath project. The paradoxical name — finding a cause worth ultimate sacrifice — adds existential weight to Magic City brutality.