Akron's Self Loathing formed in 2018 and operate at the volatile intersection of death metal and hardcore punk, bringing the blunt-force aggression of the latter to the low-end brutality of the former. The band's crossover approach is rooted in the Rust Belt tradition of music that doesn't ask permission — short, crushing, and direct. They're part of a small but committed Ohio underground scene that treats genre boundaries as obstacles to be demolished.

Ohio-based Sepulcher formed in 2024 operating at the violent intersection of death metal and grindcore. Their music combines the technicality and brutality of death metal song structures with the explosive, short-burst intensity of grindcore, resulting in something chaotic and unrelenting. As a brand-new act they have already staked out an extreme and punishing corner of the Midwestern underground.

Cleveland, Ohio death metal unit formed in 2013, drawing from the Midwest's blue-collar underground to deliver punishing, no-frills death metal steeped in the tradition of the genre's American roots.

Cleveland death metal stalwarts formed in 2014, rooted in the old-school death metal tradition with a sound that favors putrid, mid-paced heaviness alongside the city's well-established extreme metal pedigree.

Columbus, Ohio's Shores of Elysium have been working the boundary between melodic death metal and deathcore since 2012, combining memorable melodic hooks with the heaviness and aggression that define Ohio's prolific extreme metal output.

Cleveland death/thrash outfit Shores of Fire formed in 2018 with a direct, aggressive style that merges the riff density of death metal with thrash's propulsive momentum — firmly in the tradition of Ohio's hard-edged, no-nonsense extreme metal.

Cincinnati melodic death metal act formed in 2015, balancing hook-driven melody and harsh aggression in the tradition of Scandinavian melodeath with an unmistakably American edge.

Akron, Ohio's Silent Knight have spent two decades threading death, thrash, and speed metal into a cohesive whole since forming in 2005, blending the velocity of old-school speed with the darker tonality that comes from a genuine death metal foundation.

Akron, Ohio's Sin-Eater pursue death metal with the industrial-city grit that the Rust Belt town lends to everything it produces. Formed in 2016, they share an online presence with their Colorado-based namesake, creating some confusion, but their death metal allegiance sets them clearly apart.