Virginia's Scavenger returned to activity in 2018 with death metal rooted in the classic era — a band whose Bandcamp handle (scavenger1985) hints at either vintage roots or a deep reverence for the year death metal was beginning to take shape. Their approach is direct and predatory, consistent with the genre's early tradition of economy and aggression.

Scene Queen turns metalcore into a hyperfeminine, neon-pink confrontation, using the self-coined bimbocore tag as both joke and manifesto. Hannah Collins builds songs from breakdowns, bounce riffs, trap-pop cadences, glossy synths, and choruses that land like internet slogans sharpened into hooks. The early Bimbocore EPs established the template: exaggerated sweetness crashing into screamed vocals, down-tuned guitars, and lyrics that treat sexism, scene hypocrisy, sexuality, and revenge fantasy with theatrical bluntness. Hot Singles in Your Area expanded that world into a full album, keeping the camp while adding more focused songwriting and bigger heavy-pop production. Scene Queen's music works because the humor is not a retreat from anger; it is the delivery system. A track can feel bubblegum, abrasive, ridiculous, and genuinely furious within a minute, and that whiplash is part of the identity. The project draws from metalcore and alternative metal while refusing their usual visual codes, making spectacle, satire, and breakdowns operate as one loud personality.

Chicago's Scepter have been refining their thrash metal craft since 2019, contributing to the Windy City's robust and historically significant heavy metal underground. The band draws from the classic thrash tradition — tight, aggressive riffwork, punishing tempos, and the kind of no-frills songwriting that connects them to the genre's foundational years.

Denver, Colorado's Scepter of Eligos take their name from Eligos, the demonic Duke of Hell who reveals secrets of war, and their music channels a similarly oppressive weight — blending doom's slow crawl with death metal's brutality and sludge's toxic atmosphere since 2013. Mile High altitude seems no obstacle to achieving the lowest, heaviest possible sound.

From Newberg, Oregon, Sceptre have been working melodic heavy metal since 2014, bringing a clean, riff-focused approach to the Pacific Northwest's varied metal underground. Their melodic leanings align them with the European tradition of the genre — powerful mid-tempo riffs, clear vocal hooks, and songwriting that values melody as much as muscle.

Relentless Post-Black Metal from Mansfield, Connecticut /.

Chicago's Schizophrenia are a thrash metal act formed in 2020, bringing the genre's raw energy to one of America's most historically metal cities. Their Bandcamp handle — schizophrenia-be — suggests a possible connection to or reverence for the Belgian thrash scene, adding a transatlantic edge to music rooted in speed, aggression, and classic genre fundamentals.

Huntsville, Alabama's Sciatica fuse sludge metal's oppressive low-end with groove metal's punishing rhythmic impact under the fitting banner of "pain metal" — their Bandcamp handle makes the ethos explicit. Formed in 2020 in the Rocket City, they bring the South's tradition of miserable, crushing heaviness to a city more often associated with aerospace than agony.

Scimitar channel classic thrash and heavy metal into a riff-driven attack that pays homage to the NWOBHM and 1980s speed metal traditions while bringing their own modern edge to the formula. Their intense live performances and razor-sharp musicianship have earned them a following among fans of traditional heavy metal who crave authentic, no-frills headbanging fury.