Colorado Springs' Hit the Shadows work the metalcore format with the earnestness typical of the genre's Mountain West scene — heavy breakdowns, melodic passages, and a straightforward emotional directness that doesn't complicate what the genre does well.

Philadelphia's Hivelords collapse the boundaries between black metal, doom, and sludge into a dense, oppressive mass that borrows from each tradition without fully belonging to any of them. Since 2011 they've occupied a particularly unpleasant corner of the extreme metal underground, and they seem comfortable there.

Portland, Oregon's Hoaxed formed in 2020 as a dark rock duo of vocalist and guitarist Kat Keo and drummer Kim Coffel, later expanding to a trio with the addition of bassist April Dimmick. Their debut full-length Two Shadows followed in 2022, and the Relapse Records album Death Knocks arrived in 2026, blending gothic rock atmospherics with hard rock melody and metal heaviness. The band draws from a range of influences from classic gothic rock to occult rock, with Keo's vocals and the group's moody dynamics placing them alongside a resurgent wave of dark rock acts.

New Hampshire's Hobo Wizard conjure doom and stoner metal with the kind of grim, scrappy personality their name implies — heavy, slow, and unconcerned with refinement. The project, active since 2022, sounds like it was assembled from salvaged parts and is better for it.

Richmond, Virginia's Hoboknife weld black metal's nocturnal hostility to thrash's speed and aggression, cutting through the mid-ground with serrated efficiency. Active since 2013, they belong to a Richmond scene with a long tradition of making extreme metal feel physically threatening.

A heavy metal outfit from Tamarac, Florida carrying the torch of classic metal since 1998. Straightforward riffs and old-school attitude have kept them grinding through the South Florida scene for over two decades.

Ferocious blackened death horde active 2007-2025. Debuted with 'Serpent' on Ibex Moon Records. Known for intense, bulletbelt-and-PBR-fueled live shows.

Cullman, Alabama's Hog Mountin drag sludge and doom through the Southern dirt, conjuring slow, oppressive riffs that feel pulled from the red clay itself. Active since 2013, they embody the bleary, low-end heaviness of the American South.

Delaware's Hog Slammer arrived in 2019 with a singular mission: deliver brutal, slam-oriented death metal with maximum force and minimum mercy. Punishing breakdowns and guttural extremity define their approach.