Experimental solo metal project from Seattle, created by xenharmonic composer and microtonalist Deja Igliashon, using a 23-step microtonal scale to produce dense, unconventional music at the crossroads of drone, stoner, and progressive metal. Albums like Our Crumbling Psychic Infrastructure showcase a sound that defies easy genre classification.

Crossover thrash pioneers from Santa Monica, California formed in 1984 and regularly cited alongside D.R.I., Suicidal Tendencies, and S.O.D. as architects of the genre's speed-driven hardcore/metal fusion. Their debut Convicted (1986) sold 25,000 copies in its first year and established their reputation as one of the fastest bands in hardcore.

Michigan death/thrash metal side project that emerged from members of Violent Night, recording a single before disbanding as the parent band absorbed the group's attention. The project remained brief and obscure within the Michigan extreme metal underground.

Death metal and grindcore act from Cleveland, Ohio formed in 2004 as a gore-and-humor-themed side project of Violent Night members, releasing material on Electric Ice Records before the members moved on. The band has stated no plans to reform.

Depressive black metal project from Madisonville, Texas operating in the raw, introspective tradition of the DSBM underground, built around themes of isolation and personal suffering. The band represents a rare outpost of the subgenre in the East Texas metal landscape.

Gulf Coast grindcore featuring Insect Warfare drummer Frank Faerman.

Thrash metal band from Trenton, New Jersey active in the mid-to-late 1980s, playing semi-technical thrash that edged toward death metal in the vein of Possessed and Nocturnus. Their debut album, released in 1993, documented a tight underground act that folded after a few years of activity.

Three-piece doom and stoner metal band from Denver, Colorado drawing directly from the 1990s American stoner metal playbook of Kyuss, Sleep, and Corrosion of Conformity. Their debut album Summoning (2022) launched a planned trilogy of doom-soaked records rooted in psych-blues riffing.

Denver, Colorado death metal project helmed by sole member Patrick Bruss since 1999, crafting horror-drenched compositions steeped in pulp literature, Lovecraftian mythology, and the occult. Their 2005 Razorback Recordings debut Dedicated to the Impure remains a landmark of underground American death metal weirdness.