Symphonic black metal band from South Lake Tahoe, California, blending orchestral arrangement with the raw aggression of black metal in a high-altitude Sierra Nevada setting. The band's 2023 demo Cryptic Bloodlust announced a project with an ear for cinematic scope within extreme metal.

Brutal death metal band from Detroit, Michigan channeling the guttural intensity and clinical extremity that defines the subgenre into a project with roots in the Midwest underground. The band takes its name from a parasitic disease, fitting the biological horror aesthetic common to brutal death metal.

Denver, Colorado death metal band formed in 2022 and self-described as "Rocky Mountain Death Metal," with themes spanning anti-religion, social violence, and inner conflict. Their debut release In Death's Hands established a hungry new presence in Colorado's increasingly active extreme metal scene.

Black and death metal band from Salt Lake City, Utah operating within a regional scene long shaped by the tension between religious culture and underground extremity. The band contributes a blackened death metal perspective to a Utah metal community that has steadily grown in visibility.

Raw black metal act from Tallahassee, Florida committed to the lo-fi, primitive tradition of the genre's most abrasive underground wing. The band operates well outside Florida's more celebrated death metal legacy, carving out space in the state's smaller black metal underground.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin death metal band with members drawn from Subjugation, The Conqueror Worm, and Population Control, releasing The Tombs of Misery in 2020 and returning in 2025 with new material on Iron Fortress Records. The band works firmly within the old-school death metal tradition while maintaining strong ties to the Midwest underground.

Joliet, Illinois death metal unit Cryptum deal in dense, suffocating riffs and guttural vocals rooted in the Midwest underground. Their sound channels the brutal no-frills tradition of Chicago-area death metal.

Columbus, Ohio thrash metal outfit Crysis brings aggressive, riff-forward heaviness to the Ohio metal scene. Tight, hard-hitting arrangements and a no-nonsense approach define their sound.

Gainesville, Florida's Crystal Balls fuse black metal fury with crushing doom tempos, creating a suffocating atmosphere unique to the Sunshine State underground. Their music is cold and unrelenting.