Skag is a Dayton, Ohio brutal death metal and grindcore band formed in 2022, delivering punishing low-end heaviness punctuated by grind-tempo blasting and guttural vocal extremity. They represent the working-class Midwest underground tradition of no-frills, no-mercy extreme metal.

Cincinnati death metal/deathcore outfit formed in 2020, combining the brutality of old-school death metal with the rhythmic breakdown-driven aggression of deathcore. Their sound leans into a heavier, more punishing direction within the Cincinnati underground scene.

Solidification is a brutal death metal band from Dayton, Ohio, formed in 2004, bringing over two decades of grinding, technically dense extreme metal to the Midwest underground scene.

Solipsist is a Cleveland, Ohio band formed in 2007 operating across death metal, thrash, groove metal, and metalcore, reflecting the diverse heavy music lineage of the Rust Belt underground scene.

Sons of Belial is a melodic black/death metal band from Cleveland, Ohio, formed in 2014, combining the melody and atmosphere of Scandinavian black metal with the crushing brutality of death metal.

Sothoros is a death metal band from Athens, Ohio, formed in 2010, crafting punishing and straightforward death metal within a small-city underground scene built around Ohio University.

Soul Realignment is a death metal band from Cincinnati, Ohio, formed in 2026. A nascent act from Ohio's underground, they pursue the punishing sonic territory of straight-ahead death metal.

Soulless is a Cleveland, Ohio melodic death and thrash metal band with roots stretching back to 1998. One of Ohio's longer-running extreme metal acts, they combine the melodic sensibility of Swedish-influenced death metal with thrash's technical aggression.

Southern Tongues is an Ohio death metal and hardcore band formed in 2019, bringing the visceral collision of extreme metal and hardcore aggression that defined bands working the boundary between the two genres in the American underground.