Death metal band from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, formed in 2023, named after the infamous Kenyan man-eater lions and executing predatory, relentless death metal in the American underground tradition.

Groove metal band from Pratt, Kansas, formed in 2023, bringing a heavy, rhythmically driven approach to metal rooted in the stomping mid-tempo riffs central to the groove metal tradition.

Portland, Oregon psychedelic doom/sludge metal band active since 2012, layering crushing low-end weight with hazy, hallucinatory atmospheres in the Pacific Northwest tradition of slow and heavy music.

California atmospheric black metal project formed in 2025, building vast, expansive soundscapes from cold tremolo-picked guitar and sweeping ambience in the genre's most meditative tradition.

Hard rock and heavy metal band from San Francisco, California, formed in 2018, delivering the forceful, hook-driven sound the city's hard rock scene has long been known for.

Atlanta, Georgia act formed in 2020, fusing black metal's corrosive tremolo assault with the confrontational aggression of hardcore punk — a combination central to the blackened hardcore movement gaining traction in the American underground.

Black metal band from Madison, Wisconsin, formed in 2017 and taking their name from the biblical figure of ancient metalworking, applying that mythological weight to a raw and uncompromising black metal sound.

Tuesday the Sky is a solo project launched in 2016 by Jim Matheos, guitarist and primary composer for progressive metal band Fates Warning. The project produces largely instrumental music that draws from ambient, post-rock, and electronica — citing influences such as Brian Eno, Boards of Canada, and Explosions in the Sky — and stands in marked contrast to Matheos's heavier main band work. Three albums have been released: Drift (2017), The Blurred Horizon (2021), and Indoor Enthusiast (2025), all through Metal Blade Records.

Baltimore, Maryland crossover thrash band active since 1997, one of the longer-running acts in the local scene, grinding out a blend of thrash metal and hardcore punk energy with a veteran's consistency.