Formed in Endicott, New York in 2017, Skud is a death metal band operating in the grimy upstate New York underground, delivering the straightforward, skull-cracking style the genre's traditional fans expect.

Skull Pit formed in 2018 as a transatlantic collaboration between Mem V. Stein of German thrash band Exumer and Tatsu Mikami of Tokyo doom act Church of Misery. The pair, who had long corresponded online over mutual admiration for each other's bands, channeled their shared love of Motörhead and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal into the project's self-titled debut album, released on Metal Blade Records in November 2018. The record's ten tracks — including a cover of Rose Tattoo's 'All the Lessons' — prioritize stripped-down riffing and momentum over genre innovation, delivering a focused heavy metal statement.

Brooklyn's Skullshitter have been grinding since 2012, blending grindcore's short-fuse violence with death metal's guttural density into a distinctly New York City-styled assault. Their Bandcamp output reflects a band committed to brevity and brutality in equal measure.

New York's SkullSplitter formed in 2021 and plays a crossover-adjacent style of death/thrash metal that leans into brute forward momentum. Though their city information is unspecified, their Bandcamp presence marks them as part of the current New York underground's renewed appetite for riff-forward extremity.

Slag Fairy are a New York sludge metal band formed in 2018, building their sound around the thick, feedback-laden density that defines the genre — slow, punishing riffs dragged through distortion and noise. The name alone signals a fondness for the absurd and heavy in equal measure.

Slam One Down are a New York groove and thrash metal band with roots going back to 2009, forging a sound that mixes the precision of thrash riffing with the hard-hitting, mid-tempo weight of groove metal. Their longevity in the scene speaks to a consistent live presence and work ethic.

Brooklyn's Slashers charge out of New York City's dense underground with crossover thrash that pulls equally from hardcore pit energy and classic metal aggression. Active since 2017, they carry on a lineage of NYC crossover acts who treat the genre as a contact sport.

Queens, New York's Slaughter the Prophets traffic in brutal death metal's most pulverizing conventions — grinding tempos, guttural vocals, and technically precise carnage — drawn from the densely populated New York City extreme metal underground where they've operated since 2015.

Hailing from Peru, New York — a small Adirondack-adjacent town — Slaughtered Remains have kept death metal alive in a rural corner of upstate New York since 2007. Their persistence in an area far removed from major urban metal scenes marks them as a genuine underground institution.