Blackbraid is an Indigenous black metal project from the Adirondack Mountains of New York, created by Sgah'gahsowáh, also known as Jon Krieger. Emerging in 2022 with Blackbraid I, the project quickly drew attention for combining melodic and atmospheric black metal with a deep relationship to landscape, rage, grief, and Indigenous identity. Blackbraid II and Blackbraid III expanded the scope, bringing more confidence, sharper production, and a broader sense of ceremony without losing the project's raw force. The music uses tremolo riffs, blast beats, sweeping melodic lines, acoustic passages, and flute or nature-linked textures to create a sound that feels rooted in mountains, forests, and memory. Blackbraid's songs often address colonial violence, spiritual endurance, ancestral presence, and the overwhelming power of the natural world, but they do so through black metal's intensity rather than detached explanation. The project matters because it brings a distinct voice into a genre that often leans on European myth and cold abstraction. Blackbraid's strength is not only representation; it is songwriting. The riffs are memorable, the atmosphere is immersive, and the emotional stakes feel immediate. The music is fierce, mournful, and proudly tied to place.

Bloodclot is a New York City hardcore and crossover thrash band led by John Joseph, former vocalist of the Cro-Mags, with roots stretching back to the early 1980s when the group served as roadies for Bad Brains. The project became a proper studio entity in 2008 with the debut Burn Babylon Burn!, and resurfaced prominently with Up in Arms (Metal Blade Records, 2017), recorded with Nick Oliveri, Joey Castillo, and the late Todd Youth. Their third album Souls, featuring members of Sick of It All, Quicksand, and Madball, continued their run of NYHC and early thrash-informed material.

Brand New Sin is a hard rock and Southern rock band from Syracuse, New York, active from 2002 to 2012, formed by members of the local metal band Godbelow who wanted to explore bluesier, groove-oriented territory. After a self-titled debut on Now or Never Records in 2002, the band signed to Century Media Records, releasing Recipe for Disaster (2005), Tequila (2006), Distilled (2009), and United State (2011). The band contributed the entrance theme used by WWE wrestler Paul Wight (Big Show) during his career, and held original-lineup reunion shows in 2019.

Brutal Truth was a New York City grindcore band formed in 1990 by bassist Dan Lilker, a veteran of Anthrax, Nuclear Assault, and Stormtroopers of Death. After releasing two albums on Earache Records—Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses (1992) and Need to Control (1994)—the band moved to Relapse Records, where Sounds of the Animal Kingdom (1997) marked a more experimental turn incorporating blues, psychedelic rock, noise, and free jazz elements. They disbanded in 1999, reformed in 2006, released End Time (Relapse, 2011), and dissolved permanently in 2014 upon Lilker's retirement from full-time musicianship.