Columbus, Ohio's The Conquering have been forging their own brand of Viking and folk-inflected black metal since 2006, drawing on themes of Norse mythology and pagan lore without losing the ferocity that grounds the music. The Midwest setting gives their atmosphere a particular starkness — wide, cold, and elemental — that suits the genre's epic scope.

Columbus, Ohio's Throne of Decay blend melodic death metal's sweeping, mournful leads with black metal's freezing atmosphere and abrasive intensity, carving a niche in the Midwest's growing extreme metal underground since their formation in 2022.

Triangulum is a black metal band from Cleveland, Ohio, formed in 2017, drawing on the raw and atmospheric strains of the genre to produce cold, abrasive sonic landscapes.

Black metal band from Dayton, Ohio, formed in 2020, executing raw and confrontational black metal in the orthodox underground tradition.

Twin Scar is a black/doom metal band from Cincinnati, Ohio, formed in 2025, combining the icy malevolence of black metal with the glacial, despairing tempos of doom metal into a dark and suffocating sound.

Operating out of St. Louis since 2020, UlvKult deal in raw, unadorned black metal with no interest in softening the edges. Stripped-down and venomous, they fit squarely in the American underground's grimier end.

Ohio's Void Meditation Cult have been active since 2013, carving out a distinct space within American black metal through music that prioritizes atmosphere and ritual over aggression and speed. The "cult" in the name is accurate — this is insular, purposeful black metal built more for immersion than shock, concerned with trance states and darkness as sustained conditions rather than momentary extremity. One of the more interesting and long-running underground black metal acts in the Midwest.

Cincinnati's Voidwitch started in 2023 with a black metal sound that carries the genre's expected malice but channels it through a witchcraft-inflected aesthetic that sharpens the occult menace. Raw production, cold riffing, and vocal delivery that sounds like something summoned rather than performed — the Ohio underground context gives their work an isolation that suits the material. Still early in their existence but already operating with clear thematic vision.

Toledo, Ohio black metal project formed in 2020, invoking Slavic mythological imagery through a raw and atmospheric approach to the genre. The name references Veles, the underworld deity of Slavic paganism, suggesting a thematic focus on death, nature, and ancient spiritual darkness.