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Azusa is a multinational progressive extreme metal supergroup formed in 2014 by cousins Christer Espevoll (guitars) and David Husvik (drums) of the Norwegian band Extol, joined by bassist Liam Wilson of The Dillinger Escape Plan and vocalist Eleni Zafiriadou of Sea + Air. Their sound blends melodic thrash, jazz-fusion, hardcore and early-90s riff-pop, a style the band has tongue-in-cheek dubbed "Avant-Thrash." They released their debut album Heavy Yoke in 2018 and the follow-up Loop of Yesterdays in 2020, via Solid State Records (US) and Indie Recordings (Europe).

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Wetnurse was a Manhattan, New York City experimental metal/hardcore band active in the 2000s, releasing a self-titled album (2004) and Invisible City (2008, Seventh Rule Recordings, produced and mixed by Martin Bisi at BC Studios). Their sound fused early-hardcore urgency, AmRep-style noise-rock abrasion, death-metal heft, and classic-rock melodicism, with the band citing touchstones like Sonic Youth, Helmet, Voivod, Botch, Unsane, and Mr. Bungle. Drummer Curran Reynolds also later joined Today Is the Day; vocalist Gene Fowler has since passed away.

Isis were an American post-metal band formed in Boston in 1997 and later based in Los Angeles, active until their breakup in 2010. Building on roots in hardcore punk and doom metal, they helped pioneer and evolve the post-metal sound established by Neurosis and Godflesh, favoring lengthy compositions built on repetition and gradual structural evolution. Led by Aaron Turner, founder of Hydra Head Records, the band's core lineup remained consistent across five studio albums including the acclaimed Oceanic (2002) and Panopticon (2004). They disbanded in June 2010, just before a split EP with the Melvins, and reunited once in 2018 as Celestial for a tribute show.

The Ocean (also known as The Ocean Collective) is a German post-metal band formed in 2000 in Berlin by guitarist and principal composer Robin Staps, built around a fluid, revolving cast of musicians. Their sound blends post-metal, progressive metal, sludge and avant-garde elements across ambitious concept albums exploring geology, evolution and oceanic depths, including Precambrian (2007), the paired Heliocentric and Anthropocentric (2010), Pelagial (2013), and the Phanerozoic double-album series (2018-2020). The band released early records via Make My Day Records before signing to Metal Blade Records, and Staps also runs the post-metal imprint Pelagic Records.

Russian Circles are an American instrumental post-metal band based in Chicago, Illinois, formed in 2004 by childhood friends Mike Sullivan (guitar) and Dave Turncrantz (drums). Since 2007 the trio has been rounded out by bassist Brian Cook, formerly of Botch and These Arms Are Snakes. Their sprawling, dynamic instrumental albums include Enter (2006), Station (2008), Memorial (2013), Guidance (2016) and Blood Year (2019).

These Arms Are Snakes were a Seattle post-hardcore band active from 2002 to 2009, formed by former members of Botch and Kill Sadie. Blending punk urgency with math-rock complexity and synth textures, they released three studio albums on Jade Tree: Oxeneers or the Lion Sleeps When Its Antelope Go Home (2004), Easter (2006), and Tail Swallower and Dove (2008). After disbanding, bassist Brian Cook went on to Russian Circles and Sumac.

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Cult of Luna is a Swedish post-metal band formed in 1998 in Umeå, emerging from members of the local hardcore group Eclipse. Widely regarded as a leading force in post-metal alongside Neurosis and Isis, their songs are long, slow and crushing, layering heavy distorted passages with orchestral interludes and post-rock-esque forays. Their discography includes Salvation (2004), Somewhere Along the Highway (2006), and the Metropolis-inspired Vertikal (2013). In 2016 they released the space-themed collaborative album Mariner, recorded with American vocalist Julie Christmas.

Helium Horse Fly are a Liège, Belgium avant-garde/experimental-rock act formed in 2009, fronted by vocalist/keyboardist Marie Billy alongside guitarist Stéphane Dupont, bassist Dimitri Iannello and drummer Gil Chevigné (who replaced founding drummer Bastien Dupont in 2014). Critics have described their sound as 'progressive baroque hardcore' and compared its dark, brooding intensity to Kayo Dot, spanning EPs A Dispute to Redefine Clearly Frontiers Between Devils and Angels (2010) and Fishing for Ghosts (2011) through the albums Helium Horse Fly (2013) and Hollowed (2019). Reviewers place them across post-metal, art rock and experimental-rock tags.

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Rosetta is a post-metal band formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 2003, blending sludge metal, post-rock, drone, ambient, and space rock into a sound the band self-describes as "metal for astronauts." Their key releases include the two-disc The Galilean Satellites (2006), Wake/Lift (2007), and A Determinism of Morality (2010), issued on Translation Loss Records before the group became fully independent. They are known for lengthy, atmospheric compositions and an eclectic hybrid drawing on post-hardcore, shoegaze, and progressive elements.

XHOHX are a duo who describe their own music, in their own words, as "Chaotic and Organic No Wave, Poly-rhythmic and Atonal Music" — which is both accurate and about as much help as it sounds. Ramon Ribas Coca plays guitar and programs the drums, Oregolakatzor plays bass, and the result is heavy avant-rock built out of angular, disharmonic riffing that never repeats a bar it could complicate instead. Reviewers reach for Ruins, the Flying Luttenbachers and Univers Zero, and hear an industrial edge that comes from the rhythmic construction rather than from any electronics — the programmed drums are deliberately played straight, close enough to a human kit that the review noting them also notes you cannot really tell. Growled shouts surface between the instrumental passages. Two albums in eleven years, then a 2013 split with Ahleuchatistas recorded either side of the Atlantic, and not much since.