 | | Detroit's the Black Dahlia Murder, named for the infamous 1947 slaying of 22-year-old Elizabeth Short, aka the Black Dahlia, actually sounds like they should live in Scandinavia, whence originates much of the frenetic brand of death and black metal that inspires them. |
 | | Formed in 2006 by Phil Bozeman, Brandon Cagle, and Ben Savage, tech-heavy Knoxville, TN-based death metal outfit Whitechapel (named for the London neighborhood where the notorious Jack the Ripper disposed of most of his victims) blend grindcore, hardcore, and black metal into an unholy trinity of audio violence. |
 | | As I Lay Dying are a metal-hardcore crossover band from San Diego, California. The group formed as a trio in 2001 with vocalist Tim Lambesis, drummer Jordan Mancino, and guitarist Evan White, and shortly thereafter released Beneath the Encasing of Ashes. |
 | | Originally known by the less-than-subtle moniker Burn the Priest, Richmond, Virginia-based Lamb of God decided to change their name shortly after the release of a self-titled debut in 1998. |
 | | Riverside, CA's Suicide Silence formed in 2002. A quintet, the band specializes in that 21st century metal phenomenon known as deathcore, and was signed to international mega metal label Century Media. |
 | | Based out of Los Angeles, CA, As Blood Runs Black melds several extreme metal subgenres (death, black, thrash, metalcore) into their own violent style. |
 | | Between the Buried and Me is a thinking man's hardcore unit hailing from Raleigh, North Carolina. The band began in 2000 after the dissolution of vocalist Tommy Rogers and guitarist Paul Waggoner's previous group, Prayer for Cleansing. |
 | | Technical death metal band All Shall Perish hails from Oakland, California, but their eponymous three-track demo had to make its way across the Pacific Ocean and be embraced by Japan's Amputated Vein Records to make possible their first album, Hate, Malice, Revenge, released in 2003. |
 | | They look like clean-cut suburban kids, but when August Burns Red plug in to play, they unleash a precise, powerfully emotional metalcore onslaught that has won them a loyal following among fans of adventurous hard rock. |
 | | New Fairfield, CT-based metal quintet Emmure specialize in an emotionally brutal blend of blistering hardcore and punishing thrash that has drawn favorable comparisons to acts like the Acacia Strain and From a Second Story Window. |
 | | Formed by guitarist Oli Herbert and ex-Shadows Fall vocalist Phil Labonte in 1998, Massachusetts' All That Remains debuted in 2002 with Behind Silence and Solitude on Metal Blade. |
 | | Massachusetts metalcore enthusiasts Unearth formed in 1998 and immediately started rocking, both in around Boston and on the road. |
 | | Hailing from the hippie-loving beachfront town of Byron Bay, Australia, metalcore outfit Parkway Drive blasted out of their serene surroundings touting a volatile blend of intricate metal riffing, punishing breakdowns, and hardcore's emotional tension. |
 | | "If vomit were a movie, this would be the soundtrack," wrote one critic of Cannibal Corpse's music, some of the most extreme, violent death metal sounds and subject matter ever committed to tape. |
 | | After leaving Ceremonial Oath to form In Flames, founding member and guitarist Jesper Strömblad saw this project as a way of expressing his songwriting creativity rather than being stuck in the background. |
 | | Growing tired of their metalcore band, Hamartia, guitarist Slim (aka Brendan MacDonald) and drummer Mark Castillo began Bury Your Dead as a side project in late 2001. |
 | | Washington, D.C.'s Darkest Hour is a supporter of the death metal/hardcore merger, founded in the early '90s by such outfits as Carcass and Entombed. |
 | | The four bandmembers who came together and created Killswitch Engage already had strong fan followings. |
 | | Originally known as Black December, Winds of Plague formed in 2002 in Upland, California. The band went through a good number of roster changes, eventually settling on Jonathan Cooke (vocals), Nick Eash (guitar), Nick Piunno (guitar), Kristen Randall (keyboards), Andrew Glover (bass), and Jeff Tenney (drums). |
 | | The brutally heavy death metal of Through the Eyes of the Dead first appeared in June 2003, with the original band lineup of Anthony Gunnels (vocals), Justin Longshore (guitar), Richard Turbeville (guitar), Jeff Springs (bass), and Dayton Cantley (drums). |
 | | Formed in 1998, the Cleveland, OH-based hardcore sextet Chimaira consists of singer/screamer Mark Hunter, guitarists Matt DeVries (who replaced Jason Hager in mid-2001) and Rob Arnold, bassist Jim LaMarca, drummer Andols Herrick, and electronic specialist Chris Spicuzza. |
 | | Fronted by a tattooed clothing designer and influenced by death metal, grindcore, and emo, Bring Me the Horizon aren't the average deathcore band. |
 | | East Coast alternative metal ensemble the Acacia Strain utilize a bone-crushing rhythm section, apocalyptic samples, and a unique triple-guitar assault to deliver their signature blend of hardcore, noise, and death and doom metal. |
 | | Mystifyingly taking their name from a popular chick lit bestseller, the Devil Wears Prada is easily one of the most bizarrely named bands of their time. |
 | | Orange County, CA, sextet Bleeding Through formed in the year 2000, featuring vocalist Brandan Schieppati, guitarists Brian Leppke and Scott Danough, bassist Ryan Wombacher, drummer Derek Youngsma, and keyboardist Marta Peterson. |
 | | Following the dissolution of Marilyn Manson/Korn-aping, nu-metal also-rans Coal Chamber, vocalist Dez Fafara hooked up with guitarists Evans Pitts and Jeffrey Kendrick, bassist Jon Miller, and drummer John Boecklin to form DevilDriver -- a rather more extreme band dedicated to the subsequent hardcore-meets-death metal trends. |
 | | Offering a complex form of metal that combined the sweeping adventurism of math rock, the oddball tempos of experimental jazz, and the stunning brutality of thrash metal, Meshuggah raised the bar for metal bands everywhere upon their debut. |
 | | Described as "the world's greatest cultural force," the virtual death metal band Dethklok star in the Adult Swim television show Metalocalypse. |
 | | Boston-based death metal/grindcore outfit the Red Chord combine a crushing rhythmic assault and guitar patterns that bite like a circular saw with the menacing but intelligent lyrics and furious vocals of frontman Guy Kozowyk. |
 | | Chicago-based metalcore outfit Born of Osiris (formerly known as Rosecrance) formed around the talents of Lee McKinney (guitar), Ronnie Canizaro (vocals), Joe Buras (keyboards/backing vocals), David Darocha (bass), Cameron Losch (drums), and Matt Pantelis (guitar) while still in high school. |
 | | Not to be confused with the late-'70s disco diva (who sang with Chic in 1977 before going solo and scoring a hit with 1978's "Saturday") or the country singer (who enjoyed a successful run in the '60s), this Norma Jean is a Christian alternative metal/metalcore band previously known as Luti-Kriss. |
 | | Combining elements of melodic death metal, power metal, neo-classical, and thrash, Children of Bodom have been one of the world's most expansive and hard to define bands since their formation in 2003. |
 | | Formed by ex-Carnage, Carcass, and Candlemass guitarist Michael Amott (concurrently of Spiritual Beggars) with his brother Christopher (Armageddon), Arch Enemy took a straight-ahead approach to death metal reminiscent of Entombed or late-period Carcass, blending catchy, classic-style metal riffs with crushing grooves for an intense yet accessible sound. |
 | | Although their music sometimes bears strong similarities to the technical, progressive brand of death metal centered around Gothenburg, Sweden and epitomized by bands like In Flames, Shadows Fall actually hail from Massachusetts. |
 | | Buffalo-based metalcore quintet Every Time I Die formed in the winter of 1998. Spearheaded by brothers Keith (vocals) and Jordan Buckley (guitar), the founding lineup also included guitarist Andrew Williams, bassist John McCarthy, and drummer Michael "Ratboy" Novak. |
 | | Existing at the point where metal collides with all other genres, Iwrestledabearonce are an example of the bold experimentation that has been keeping metal fresh and exciting. |
 | | The New Haven, Connecticut-based Hatebreed got together in 1993 for the purpose of creating a "back to basics" hardcore band with heavy metallic guitars, screaming vocals, and 30-second songs. |
 | | Swedish death metal band Amon Amarth originally formed in 1988 under the name Scum; by the time the new moniker was adopted four years later, the line-up consisted of vocalist Johan Hegg, guitarists Olli Mikkonen and Anders Hansson, bassist Ted Lundstrom and drummer Niko Kaukinen. |
 | | Though forever doomed, commercially speaking, by their controversial name, Maryland's Dying Fetus has endured beyond most observers' wildest expectations, and to do so, they've weathered a slew of hardships that would have felled (and did fell) most other bands. |
 | | Hailing from central Florida, Trivium formed in 2000 and quickly built a buzz around Orlando's metal community with a blend of metalcore, thrash, and progressive metal flourish. |
 | | Atlanta-based sludge/stoner/alternative metal outfit Mastodon formed in 1999 around the talents of guitarist Bill Kelliher, drummer Bränn Dailor, bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders, and guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds. |
 | | Considered to be one of the leading death metal bands to emerge from Poland in the 1990s, Behemoth have endured quite a few lineup shifts during their career (especially in the bass department), with founding singer/guitarist Nergal being the only constant member. |
 | | God Forbid forges the gritting, teeth-baring bile of American death metal together with the melodic overtones of the so-called "New Wave of Swedish Death Metal" promulgated by bands like In Flames, Arch Enemy, and the late, lamented, and legendary At the Gates. |
 | | Hyper-technical deathcore band Despised Icon was formed in Montreal, Canada, in January of 2002, and by year's end had already released its first album, Consumed By Your Poison, through local Galy Records. |
 | | The Faceless are a progressive death metal band from Los Angeles affiliated with the underground metal label Sumerian Records. |
 | | Vocalist Michael Crafter (also of Carpathian), guitarists Jona Weinhofen and Kevon Cameron, bassist Sean Kennedy, and drummer JJ formed the ingeniously named I Killed the Prom Queen in Adelaide, Australia, in 2003. |
 | | Slayer were one of the most distinctive, influential, and extreme thrash metal bands of the 1980s. Their graphic lyrics dealt with everything from death and dismemberment to war and the horrors of hell. |
 | | Since their inception, Florida's Underøath have evolved from a run-of-the-mill Christian metalcore band into a fluid, dynamic, and energized rock group that adeptly blends emotive melody, charged punk rock rhythms, and a chunky, engaging bottom end. |
 | | Originally formed in 2006 as a grindcore band by guitarist Jeremy Carroll, Chicago's Oceano went through a revolving cast of players until settling on a new lineup and a new sound in 2007. |
 | | Blending black metal's most brutal tendencies, the melancholic beauty of opera, and industrial metal's production techniques, Dimmu Borgir carved a niche in the metal world as one of the most savage and creative acts to hail from the Norwegian scene. |