Philadelphia's Monsters Eat People formed in 2018 and pursue a progressive/post-metal blend characterized by sprawling song structures, dynamic contrasts, and the atmospheric density that the Philly underground has cultivated for decades.

A death metal act out of Salt Lake City formed in 2022, Monstrology bring skull-grinding aggression to Utah's metal underground — low-tuned, punishing, and indifferent to regional expectations.

One of Tampa Bay's enduring death metal institutions, Monstrosity have been synonymous with technically precise, brutally executed Florida death metal since the late 1980s — a band whose alumni include early members of Cannibal Corpse.

A brutal death metal project from Pennsylvania just forming in 2026, Monstrumologist take their name from the Victorian monster-hunting tradition and channel it into unrelenting low-end brutality and blasting percussive attack.

Detroit's Montage have been working the heavy/power metal spectrum since 2002, combining soaring melodic ambition with the blunt, blue-collar heaviness that defines the Motor City's long metallic tradition.

Austin doom trio influenced by Neurosis, the Melvins, and Eyehategod.

Born in Longview, Texas, Monte Pittman is a guitarist best known as Madonna's long-standing live bandleader, having joined her touring operation in 2001, while also serving as bassist and composer for Prong and later Ministry. His solo career, launched with The Deepest Dark in 2009, explores hard rock and heavy metal, with seven albums released including the concurrent 2018 releases Between the Space and Better or Worse, which demonstrated the range of his songwriting across aggressive and acoustic styles.

Cleveland's Montez formed in 2021 and play speed/power metal with the breakneck intensity the genre demands — sharp, melodic, and built on a tradition that the Midwest has quietly sustained since the 1980s.

A death metal act from Newhall, California active since 2012, Montezuma operate in the Los Angeles underground with the punishing directness the genre requires — heavy, methodical, and uninterested in subtlety.