Fort Worth's Herniated have been delivering brutal death metal since 2016 with the industrial-grade aggression you'd expect from Texas's hard-working metal underground. Dense, punishing, and unapologetically extreme.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania metalcore band Hero Destroyed coalesced from a local metal outfit active since the late 1990s before reforming under the current name in 2005 and signing to Relapse Records. Their self-titled debut album, released in 2008, drew comparisons to Converge and Curl Up and Die for its chaotic, dissonant approach to the genre. The band occupies a space in the heavier, more abrasive end of the mid-2000s metalcore spectrum.

Athens, Georgia's Heroic Depletion specialize in raw black metal that is deliberately abrasive and deliberately lo-fi since 2019 — the kind of music that sounds like it was recorded in a state of genuine grievance. Primitive in all the ways that matter.

Blasphemous Black Metal from Kentucky/.

San Francisco's Herpes lean into D-beat and goregrind with the kind of self-aware punk nihilism that the Bay Area's underground has always nurtured since their 2010 formation. The name tells you everything about their attitude toward conventional good taste.

One-man black/death project by Brungard, risen from the ashes of Howls of Ebb. Released on the prestigious I, Voidhanger Records.

Named after their Inland Empire hometown, Hesperia (CA) have been trafficking in death metal since 2018 with a directness that reflects the working-class sprawl of their surroundings. Unadorned brutality from a corner of California metal that rarely gets the attention it deserves.

Chicago's Hess navigates the intersection of neoclassical grandeur and progressive metal architecture, weaving composed precision with metallic weight. Formed in 2020, the project brings a composer's sensibility to heavy music, prioritizing structure and dynamics over brute force.

Out of Wichita since 2018, Hess n Hell deal in the bruising overlap between doom's slow grind, groove metal swagger, and classic heavy riffing. Their sound is blunt and earthy, built for low-ceilinged venues and speakers pushed past their limits.