SubtleFeud is a heavy metal band from Columbus, Ohio, formed in 2008, playing hard-edged traditional heavy metal with a hard rock sensibility rooted in the Midwest club circuit.

Sunbuilder is a heavy metal band from Cleveland, Ohio, formed in 2020, drawing on a range of metal styles to craft a sound rooted in the city's long tradition of blue-collar hard rock and metal.

This Cincinnati, Ohio-based Sword plays traditional heavy metal and hard rock, formed in 2015 and rooted in the melodic, riff-centered songwriting of classic metal.

Out of Athens, Ohio — a college town with a surprising streak of underground metal — Tarantula Downpour have been crafting heavy metal with character since 2017. They play with a grounded, no-frills intensity that reflects their small-city roots, where influence arrives late and originality fills the gaps left by isolation.

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Cincinnati heavy metal band Thruster formed in 2020 with a straightforward commitment to the classic genre fundamentals — crunching riffs, driving rhythms, and the no-frills conviction that made heavy metal a Midwest staple.

Cleveland's Tilt have been playing heavy metal since 2009, carrying the industrial city's working-class rock and roll tradition into traditional metal territory — direct, riff-led, and hard-nosed. They're a reliable fixture of the Ohio underground that values substance over trend.

Formed in 2022 out of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, Trenchgoat bring a hard rock backbone to their blend of heavy and thrash metal, landing somewhere between throwback aggression and arena-adjacent hooks. They're a young band with a sound that leans on the visceral pleasure of the riff.

Tündra is a Cleveland, Ohio heavy/power metal band formed in 2011, forging melodic and powerful metal in a city with a deep roots in hard rock and metal history.