Cleveland's Vanik play speed and heavy metal with the gonzo energy of someone who discovered Motörhead and never recovered. Since 2016, they've been delivering short, hard-charging songs that feel like they were written in a garage and meant to be heard very, very loud.

Scorching Black Metal out of Texas.

Philadelphia's Varials deal in a suffocating strain of metallic hardcore that draws equally from beatdown and death metal, punctuated by crushing low-tuned breakdowns and vocalist Travis Tabron's venomous delivery. Albums like 'Pain Again' and 'In Darkness' showcase a band unafraid to push heaviness to its most oppressive extremes.

San Jose's Varnok have been sharpening their Bay Area-rooted thrash since 2014, keeping the tradition of crunching riffs and rapid-fire drumming alive in the shadow of the genre's greatest proving ground. They play thrash as an act of reverence — and aggression.

Cavernous, Incantation-worshipping death metal duo split between Dallas and Atlanta. Released the devastating 'Crypt Born & Tethered to Ruin' on Profound Lore in 2010.

Vathsath are a black metal duo from Quintero, Chile, formed in 2025. Their debut album "Forgotten and Lost Empires" (2025) draws on the philosophy of Nietzsche, exploring nihilism and existential collapse across six tracks of melodic black metal with atmospheric keyboards.

Vattnet Viskar — Swedish for "the water is whispering" — formed in Plaistow, New Hampshire in 2010 and played atmospheric black metal that incorporated post-rock dynamics and shoegaze texture alongside conventional black metal extremity. Their debut full-length Sky Swallower (2013) was followed by Settler (2015) on Century Media Records, which expanded the band's sonic palette into more expansive, melodic territory. The band renamed themselves Vattnet in 2016 and released a final self-titled album in 2017 before disbanding.

Crushing Death Metal / Grindcore from Dallas.

VCTMS are an Illinois metalcore band whose music is built around groove, breakdown pressure, and an atmosphere of emotional damage. Emerging in the 2010s heavy scene, the group developed a catalog through the Vol. series and later releases that combine nu-metal bounce, metallic hardcore impact, depressive lyric themes, and abrupt rhythmic shifts. Rather than chasing glossy arena metalcore, VCTMS often keep their sound claustrophobic, with harsh vocals, downtuned guitars, samples, and percussion arranged to feel anxious and unstable. Songs such as "Sick // Tired," "Hell Is Other People," "Carefully // Caged," and "The Words I Never Said" show the band's preference for blunt catharsis over technical display. Their scope is directly metal and metalcore, with enough alternative-metal and nu-metal influence to make the songs feel contemporary rather than strictly old-school hardcore. VCTMS' appeal lies in mood as much as riffing. The music sounds worn down, angry, and confrontational, built for listeners who want heavy music to acknowledge panic, resentment, and isolation without smoothing the edges.