The name is absurdist; the music is not — Cincinnati's Killer Refrigerator play death-thrash that hits hard and doesn't waste time, formed in 2014 with the focus of a band that knows exactly what it wants to deliver.

Cleveland's Killer Whale Theory arrived in 2009 at the heavy end of deathcore, building songs with the structural weight and low-end density that the genre demands. A decade-plus into existence, they remain a fixture in Ohio's extreme underground.

Hard-hitting Gothic Metal with Punk influences from Dallas.

New York's Killerwatts charge through thrash and heavy metal with an electrified aggression that suits the name, formed in 2012 and built around the genre's fundamental pleasures: velocity, volume, and riffs that don't let up.

New Orleans' Killgore came out of the gate swinging in 2022, mixing death metal's low-end crush with grindcore's sub-two-minute brutality in a city that knows how to make punishment feel celebratory.

Fresh out of Asheville, North Carolina in 2025, Killiad brew sludge, stoner, and doom into something slow-boiled and heavy as wet earth. Asheville's fertile heavy underground provides the perfect conditions for this kind of deliberate, bone-deep metal.

Los Angeles groove metal act Killing 4 have been working the pummeling mid-tempo pocket since 2015, building songs around the locked-in rhythmic chemistry that makes groove metal satisfying. Heavy, methodical, and rooted in the LA metal scene.

Dynamic Metalcore / Groove Metal out of Texas.

Killspree is a heavy act that channels raw aggression through thrash-influenced metal and hardcore punk intensity. The band delivers fast, violent music built on relentless riffing and high-energy performances designed for the pit. Their uncompromising approach reflects a commitment to extreme music's DIY underground traditions.