One of the Big Four of thrash metal alongside Metallica, Slayer, and Megadeth, Anthrax helped define the genre with landmark albums like Among the Living and Persistence of Time. Formed in Queens in 1981, they also pioneered the rap-metal crossover with their collaboration with Public Enemy and remain one of the most influential heavy bands in history.

Buffalo, New York grindcore outfit with three releases since 2018. Their full-length Architects of Aggression and split with Ruin establish them as key players in Western New York's extreme music scene, delivering the rapid-fire violence the genre demands.

Brooklyn grindcore project grinding away at humanity's pretensions since 2021. Their EPs — Those Who Know Nothing and At the Mercy of the Merciless — deliver rapid-fire violence from New York City's most relentlessly creative borough.

New York black metal project whose 2019 debut Silence Under The Sun pairs nihilistic philosophy with atmospheric black metal. The name's compressed formatting and the album's cosmic bleakness suggest a modern, post-industrial approach to the genre.

Black metal project that migrated from San Francisco to Brooklyn. Their Silent Hill-inspired EP and follow-up single Equivalent Exchange draw from video game aesthetics and alchemical philosophy, filtering pop-culture references through atmospheric black metal.

Yonkers death metal project from the New York underground.

Albany death metal project from the New York underground.

New York City death metal project with ten releases since 2020, making them one of the most prolific acts in the city's extreme underground. The Analytic Sessions and subsequent releases suggest a methodical, almost scientific approach to crafting brutality.

Watertown, New York death metal project whose 2021 self-titled EP delivers brutal extremity from the state's remote North Country, near the Canadian border and Fort Drum.