An Austin, Texas death metal band formed in 2017, Mocata play straight-ahead, no-frills death metal rooted in the old-school tradition of brutality over gimmickry. They are part of a deep Austin underground that has quietly sustained serious death metal long after the city's reputation shifted toward other sounds.

Philadelphia's Mode of Egress work at the intersection of black metal and post-black metal, balancing raw, tremolo-driven aggression with moments of dissonant, open-space atmosphere. Formed in 2020, they reflect Philadelphia's long-running engagement with experimental extremity across the hardcore and metal divide.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin's Model Citizen have been welding power metal melody to thrash metal aggression since 2009, occupying the territory where soaring hooks meet riff-driven urgency. The band carries the Midwest's no-nonsense work ethic into a sound that values both shred and song structure equally.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin's Modern Lobotomy deal in brutal death metal built for maximum blunt force, with early releases like the Protohuman EP signaling a focus on primitive, punishing heaviness. Formed in 2019, they represent a younger wave of Midwestern death metal that has no interest in reinventing the wheel.

Sacramento's Modraniht weave pagan mythology into raw black metal, drawing on pre-Christian Germanic traditions to craft atmospheric, ritualistic compositions that feel rooted in something ancient and Northern. Formed in 2014, they occupy the atmospheric end of the pagan black metal spectrum with a reverent but uncompromising approach.

Woodbridge, Virginia's Modulus deal in the dense, cerebral end of technical death metal, constructing tightly wound compositions that prioritize precision and complexity without losing sight of brutality. Active since 2017, they represent the craft-focused side of the DMV underground metal scene.

Olympia, Washington's Modus play heavy/thrash metal that leans into the propulsive, riff-driven traditions of the genre, carrying the Pacific Northwest's DIY ethos into straightforward, aggressive territory. Formed in 2017, they keep things lean and direct without pretense.

Davis, California's Mofsed traffic in blunt, unadorned death metal, delivering the kind of straightforward extremity that college towns occasionally produce when students decide brutality outweighs subtlety. Formed in 2019, they've been building their catalog within the fertile Northern California underground.

West Palm Beach's Moguera channel the oppressive weight of sludge into long-form post-metal compositions, letting their doom-laden South Florida sound breathe and collapse under its own mass. Their approach since 2016 favors atmosphere and crush over any impulse toward accessibility.