If Nothing Is

Ar'lyxkq'wr is a UK/US dissonant blackened death metal project formed in 2022, releasing a rapid string of full-lengths and EPs (Ss'unnhl, N'yxlwrr, R'ynn'wr(yx), Nry'lwn(rh)) through the Centipede Abyss collective/label. Its cryptic, unpronounceable apostrophe-and-diacritic-laden song and album titles mirror a compositional approach aimed at 'disintegrating' the vocabulary of technical death metal — pushing beyond Portal- and Gorguts'-Obscura-style dissonance into near-total structural collapse. Members perform under similarly cryptic pseudonyms and are tied to a cluster of like-minded underground projects (Apothecary, Cave, Act of Entropy) within the same scene.

Endolith are an extreme progressive metal three-piece from Tromso, Norway, formed 2010 and signed to local label Rob Mules Records. Their concept album 'Chicxulub - The Fossil Record' (2019) refracts the dinosaur-extinction narrative through Meshuggah/Strapping Young Lad-style djent grooves, Gojira-esque crush, Devin Townsend-scale orchestral synth walls, black-metal (Emperor-tinged) tremolo bursts, and electronic programming, arriving at what one reviewer called 'a truly unforgettable trip.'

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A prog-extreme-metal supergroup uniting Jason McMaster (Watchtower, Dangerous Toys) on vocals, Davide Tiso (Ephel Duath, Botanist) on guitar, and Hannes Grossmann (ex-Necrophagist, Alkaloid) on drums, Howling Sycamore melts thrash, black metal, and old-school prog-metal singing into dense, riff-heavy epics. Their two albums draw a deep guest bench — Marty Friedman and Kevin Hufnagel (Gorguts, Dysrhythmia) on lead guitar, Bruce Lamont on baritone sax — that pulls the sound toward technical/progressive metal more than cross-genre experimentalism. Jamie King of Between the Buried and Me mixed and mastered the sophomore record, Seven Pathways to Annihilation.

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Voidstar Nocturnal is a progressive blackened death metal trio from Heredia, Costa Rica, formed in 2023 by musicians from Corpse Garden, Deiphago and Advent of Bedlank-adjacent scenes, evolving directly out of Corpse Garden. Guitarist Fabian Salas, bassist Kevin Moran, and drummer/synth player Erick Mejía Arguedas, joined by guest vocalist Roy Zumbado Cognuchz (TŴR, Advent of Bedlam), recorded the debut LP "Nexus Teleport Fracture" (Godz ov War Productions, 2026) live over three days at Colin Marston's Menegroth Studios in New York with no edits, triggers, or overdubs. Critics describe a surreal, psychedelic fusion of dissonant death/black metal with electro-industrial synths, post-punk/darkwave atmosphere, and a cosmic sci-fi/occult concept.

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Mysterious, anonymous Polish avant-black-death act on Godz Ov War Productions whose debut Carmina Inferorum (2026) foregrounds trumpet and saxophone over guitars, layering demonic spoken word and industrial/electronic textures into a dissonant black/death frame; reviewers reached for Voivod, Gorguts, Imperial Triumphant, Igorrr, Dødheimsgard, Oranssi Pazuzu and Krallice as touchstones, "but with extra madness."

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One-man project of linguist Liu Zhenyang (born in Ningbo, China; studying in Paris), Hoplites fuses dissonant black and death metal with mathcore and zeuhl-style repetition, topped with squealing saxophone. All song and album titles are rendered in Greek despite lyrical content addressing Chinese social themes. The project debuted with an EP in 2021, released three full-lengths in 2023, and put the project on an open-ended hiatus in mid-2024 as Zhenyang shifted focus to a new project, Dgra.

Atrorum is a two-person avant-garde/progressive black metal project from Munich, Germany, formed in 1998 by vatroS (guitars, bass, clean vocals, programming) and umbrA (vocals, keyboards, programming). Across three albums on Apathia Records — most notably 2015's Structurae — the band folds symphonic black and death metal into gothic organ, choir, cabaret, funeral-doom, jazz, and industrial-electronic passages, alternating harsh and clean vocals delivered in French, German, and English.

Venomous Echoes is the solo dissonant black/death metal project of Ohio multi-instrumentalist Ben Vanweelden, threading cosmic-horror and body-dysmorphia narrative concepts through blast-driven black-death chaos punctuated by dark jazz saxophone and synth interludes. Across three full-lengths — most recently Dysmor (I, Voidhanger, 2025) — the project builds sprawling, epic-length tracks that pair Lovecraft/Cronenberg-inflected horror themes with technical, atmospheric extremity. It sits in the current wave of one-person avant-death/black projects released through boutique labels like I, Voidhanger, Jaibaná, and Vargheist.

Ploughshare is a Canberra, Australia black/death metal trio-turned-collective that folds industrial electronics, noise rock, and jazz-inflected bass work into long, dissonant compositions. Their 2024 album Second Wound (Brilliant Emperor/I, Voidhanger) was praised for pushing further into warped electronic textures and technical death metal complexity while retaining the project's blast-driven black/death core.

Goatchrist is the solo vehicle of Leeds, UK musician Jacob Guilherme, formed in 2014, an explicitly occult project layering piano, orchestral textures, and jazz-inflected instrumental passages over an Orthodox black-metal core.