Boston's Head in Hand navigate the slow-motion grief of sludge/doom/post-metal, crafting music that moves at the pace of catastrophe and carries the weight to match. Since 2020 they've contributed to a New England extreme scene that has increasingly embraced heavy, meditative forms.

St. Louis thrash veterans Head on Collision have been a fixture of the Missouri metal underground since 2000, playing the kind of honest, riff-first thrash that doesn't ask for academic validation. Over two decades they've quietly accumulated a body of work built on consistency rather than hype.

Puyallup, Washington's Head Stabber are a fresh-faced death metal outfit formed in 2024, arriving with the blunt directness their name implies and a Pacific Northwest underground pedigree built on aggression rather than atmosphere. Still early in their arc, they show a clear commitment to old-school extremity.

Battle Creek, Michigan's Headcheese are a gloriously repugnant collision of slam death metal, brutal death, and goregrind, weaponizing grotesque imagery and gut-punch breakdowns with the enthusiasm of a band that genuinely loves how ugly their music can get. Since 2020 they've been an ideal entry point for listeners who want their death metal without any refinement.

Tucson death metal outfit Headhunt have been operating in Arizona's desert underground since 2022, delivering the genre's fundamentals — buzzsaw guitars, deep vocals, punishing tempos — with the focused purpose of a band that knows exactly what it wants to be.

New York's Headless Eyes occupy an unusually broad corner of extreme metal, blending death, thrash, and traditional heavy metal into a sound that refuses easy categorization. Formed in 2020, they draw on the full timeline of heavy music and synthesize it into something with its own jagged shape.

Cleveland black/thrash outfit Headless Rats channel the rabid, scabrous energy of first-wave black metal and Motorhead-indebted punk thrash into a sound that's filthy and fast in equal measure. Since 2014 they've been a reliable source of dangerous, unpolished extremity from the Rust Belt.

Iowa's Headless Torso have been carving up the death/thrash intersection since 2007, delivering Valley Junction's brand of surgical riff dismemberment with unrelenting aggression. Their sound sits squarely in the tradition of technically brutal death metal seasoned with thrash's kinetic drive.

Out of Summit, New Jersey, Headlock clench down on groove-locked riffs and thrash-fueled momentum, forging a sound built as much on neck-snapping rhythm as on raw velocity. Formed in 2013, they channel the bulldozing mid-tempo menace of classic groove metal without sacrificing the bite.