Black Orchid Empire is a London-based alternative and progressive metal trio—Paul Visser, Dave Ferguson, and Billy Freedom—formed in 2011. The band built a following through a run of well-received albums on Long Branch Records: Archetype (2016), Yugen (2018), and Semaphore (2020), accumulating over three million combined streams. Their sound fuses melodic hard rock architecture with djent-adjacent technical grooves and outsized chorus-driven hooks, and their 2023 album Tempus Veritas preceded a new record, LORE, due in May 2026.

Scottish melodic death/thrash metal band, active since 2002. Over two decades they have built a body of work blending melodic death metal precision with thrash aggression from the Scottish metal underground.

Yekaterinburg-based melodic death metal act active since 2017, threading harmonized guitar leads and memorable hooks through aggressive, double-bass-driven arrangements. Their approach balances accessibility with genuine heaviness, drawing from the Gothenburg tradition.

Black metal project from Ireland, emerging in 2020. Their compositions draw from the wellspring of second-wave Scandinavian tradition while filtering it through the cultural context of their Irish origins.

French post-black metal band from Épinal in the Vosges, formed in 2020. They craft majestic post-black metal from the forested mountain region of Lorraine.

Austrian black metal entity formed in 2012, operating in the shadows of the country's underground scene. They channel raw black metal intensity through a minimalist, uncompromising approach.

Emerging in 2013 from Athens, this death metal act channels the genre's primal aggression through tight, riff-driven compositions. Their recordings carry the unmistakable weight of classic death metal.

Dutch sludge/post-metal outfit active since 2023, building dynamic compositions that oscillate between abrasive sludge riffing and atmospheric expanses. Their music trades in tension and release, alternating quiet passages with crushing walls of distortion.

Stoner doom act from Łódź, formed in 2021. Their music moves at a glacial pace through layers of fuzz and psychedelic textures, inviting the listener into a trance-like state of heavy meditation.