Brujeria is the masked grindcore/death metal collective that emerged from the Los Angeles underground with lyrics entirely in Spanish addressing narco culture, immigration, and anti-establishment politics. Featuring members rumored to include personnel from Fear Factory, Faith No More, and Napalm Death, the band's identity remains deliberately obscured while their music — from 'Matando Gueros' to 'Pocho Aztlan' — delivers uncompromising extremity.

Brutal Truth was a New York City grindcore band formed in 1990 by bassist Dan Lilker, a veteran of Anthrax, Nuclear Assault, and Stormtroopers of Death. After releasing two albums on Earache Records—Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses (1992) and Need to Control (1994)—the band moved to Relapse Records, where Sounds of the Animal Kingdom (1997) marked a more experimental turn incorporating blues, psychedelic rock, noise, and free jazz elements. They disbanded in 1999, reformed in 2006, released End Time (Relapse, 2011), and dissolved permanently in 2014 upon Lilker's retirement from full-time musicianship.

Ferocious Technical / Melodic Death / Thrash Metal from Denton.

Savage Melodic Black / Death Metal from San Antonio.

Savage Black Metal from Austin.

Los Angeles sleaze rockers Buckcherry brought the Sunset Strip spirit into the new millennium when they formed in 1995, channeling AC/DC and Aerosmith through frontman Josh Todd's raspy, street-level swagger. Their 2006 comeback album '15' spawned the massive hit 'Crazy Bitch' and returned them to the hard rock spotlight after an early-2000s breakup. The band remains unapologetically committed to loud, lewd, guitar-driven rock and roll.

Bulb is the solo project of Misha Mansoor, a Washington DC-born guitarist best known as a co-founder of progressive metal band Periphery. Mansoor began posting instrumental demos under the Bulb alias on SoundClick in 2004, amassing a significant online following and becoming one of the earliest figures associated with the djent movement. His debut proper full-length, Moderately Fast, Adequately Furious, arrived in 2021, formalizing a catalog of over 125 compositions that had circulated online for years.

Blistering Groove / Thrash Metal from Houston.

Grinding Sludge Metal out of Texas.