Dub War are a metal band from Newport, Wales, formed in 1993, built around vocalist Benji Webbe alongside guitarist Jeff Rose, bassist Richie Glover, and drummer Martin 'Ginge' Ford. Their fusion of heavy metal, punk, reggae rhythms, and dub effects made them early progenitors of what critics termed 'ragga metal,' and the band released two albums on Earache Records — Pain (1995) and Wrong Side of Beautiful (1996) — before disbanding in 1999. They reunited in 2014 and released Westgate Under Fire in 2022, their first album of new material in over two decades.

Lacuna Coil is a gothic and alternative metal band from Milan, Italy, formed in 1994 under the name Ethereal before adopting their current name upon signing with Century Media Records. The band built their signature sound around the interplay of soprano vocalist Cristina Scabbia and bassist/co-vocalist Andrea Ferro, releasing their international breakthrough Comalies in 2002 — an album that helped define the early 2000s wave of European gothic metal crossover. Having sold over two million albums worldwide, the band has released a steady catalog through Sleepless Empire in 2025.

Linea 77 is a nu metal and alternative metal band from the outskirts of Turin, Italy, formed in 1993 and named after the local bus route to their rehearsal space. Their debut Too Much Happiness Makes Kids Paranoid (1998, Collapse Records) drew coverage from Kerrang!, Metal Hammer, and Melody Maker, and the band became the first Italian act to perform at the Reading and Leeds festivals in 2001 after releasing Ketchup Suicide that year. They went on to release several more albums through the mid-2000s and remain a significant figure in Italian alternative metal history.

Love Is Noise is a UK two-piece formed in 2021, consisting of vocalist Cameron Humphrey and guitarist Tom Mellon, who blend alternative metal with shoegaze textures and post-hardcore intensity. Drawing influence from Loathe, Glassjaw, and Thornhill, the duo released their debut album on Century Media Records in February 2025, titled To Live in a Different Way. Their self-described approach layers heavy guitar work with atmospheric density, carving out a niche in the contemporary British heavy underground.

Space of Variations formed in Ukraine in 2009, establishing themselves within the modern metalcore and alternative metal landscape before an early hiatus and reformation in 2015. Their full-length debut Mind Darknet (2018) announced a sound that blends metalcore aggression with electronic textures and progressive atmospheres. The band signed to Napalm Records and released IMAGO followed by Poisoned Art in February 2026, continuing to build their profile as one of Ukraine's most internationally visible metal acts. The band's output through the years of the Russian invasion of Ukraine has also given their music an added layer of cultural weight.

VEXED formed in Hertfordshire, England in 2019, built around the contrasting vocal interplay of Megan Targett and a sonic palette that fuses alternative metal melodicism with deathcore brutality. Their debut album Culling Culture (2021) drew immediate attention for its thematic directness and polished production, and they followed it with Negative Energy (2023) on Napalm Records, a heavier record that scaled back the clean vocal passages in favor of a more aggressive sound.