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Stolen Babies are an American experimental/avant-garde rock band formed in California in 2001, built around Dominique Lenore Persi's accordion and theatrical vocals in a 'dark cabaret' meets prog-metal frame. Twin brothers Rani and Gil Sharone anchor the rhythm section; influences include Oingo Boingo, Mr. Bungle and Fishbone. They released There Be Squabbles Ahead (2006) via No Comment/The End Records.

Acrylazea is a Rochester, NY avant-garde/progressive metal act (formed 2016) built around an interstellar-pirate concept, complete with invented stage personas (The Captain, Sirius J. Axion, The Eye, Professor V.V. Olfenstein, Byron Nova). Debut A Cavalcade of Cosmic Calamity (2021) fuses melodic death metal, folk metal, power metal and neoclassical shred, with guest vocals from Judas Priest's Tim "Ripper" Owens. Reviewers place it in the theatrical/conceptual-metal lineage of Unexpect and Vulture Industries rather than any straightforward extreme-metal subgenre.

Ordkløver is a music-and-poetry project begun in 1999 by Düreforsög vocalist Boris Schiøler alongside bandmates Nis Bysted and Andreas Hauer-Jensen. Its sole release, Byen Buldrer ("The City Rumbles", 2005, Escho), pairs Schiøler's phonetic poetry with rock guitar and drums and an eight-voice choir, described by reviewers as sounding like "intoxicated monks and/or sea pirates."

Empalot were a French experimental band formed in the Landes in 1998 by Gojira's Joe and Mario Duplantier with friends from Joe's high-school thrash band. Self-described as "terroir metal," they welded alternative metal, jazz fusion, funk rock and avant-garde noise to burlesque, self-deprecating theatre, with members costumed as axes, clouds and flowers on stage. Conceived as the festive antithesis of Gojira, the group toured France between 1999 and 2004 and released a single studio album, Tous aux Cèpes (2002), before going on hiatus. The Duplantier brothers performed under the aliases Vensceslas Podoldo and Daniel Pestous.

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První Hoře ('First Grief,' named after a Franz Kafka short story) is a Czech alternative/experimental rock band formed in 1998 in Jičín, fronted by theatrical stage personas. Won the 2008 Anděl Award (Czech national music award) in the Hard'n'Heavy category. Fundamentally an alt-rock/jazz-punk-chanson act rather than a metal band by genre identity, with only a later 'metal-tinted playing style'.

Primus are a San Francisco Bay Area experimental rock trio led by bassist/vocalist Les Claypool, whose virtuosic slap-and-tap bass, absurdist storytelling and cartoonish character sketches define a sound that fuses funk, thrash, prog and Americana. Formed in 1984, they broke through with Sailing the Seas of Cheese (1991) and Pork Soda, later returning with records like The Desaturating Seven (2017). Faith No More drummer Mike Bordin, a longtime friend of Claypool's, guested on several early Primus recordings.

Akphaezya are a self-described 'eklektik metal' band from Orléans, France, active since 2002 and built around guitarist/concept-writer Stephan H. Zag-Zero's multi-album story arcs. Reviewers (French-Metal.com, Metal Archives) describe them freely mixing death metal, jazz, gothic, stoner, and cabaret/bal-musette elements, with critics drawing style comparisons to Unexpect, Diablo Swing Orchestra, and Pin-Up Went Down (no documented member/label overlap with those acts was found). Vocal duties have passed from the operatic, ethnically-inflected Nehl Aëlin to current singer Hakata Ooh.

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Mastodon is an American heavy metal band formed in Atlanta in 2000, fusing sludge and stoner metal with progressive rock, hardcore aggression and jazz-influenced drumming into an ambitious, concept-driven sound. Their breakthrough Leviathan (2004), a song cycle built around Moby-Dick, established them as one of the most original and influential American metal bands of the 21st century, and later records like Crack the Skye (2009) pushed further into psychedelic prog territory. The classic four-piece held together for 25 years until guitarist Brent Hinds split with the band in March 2025 and died in a motorcycle accident that August; three of the four members trade lead vocals, giving the band its distinctive multi-voiced attack.

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System of a Down are an Armenian-American alternative-metal band from Los Angeles, formed in 1994, whose sound welds thrash aggression to Armenian folk melodies, abrupt tempo shifts and Serj Tankian's operatic, politically charged vocals. Multi-platinum records like Toxicity (2001) and the Mezmerize/Hypnotize pair made them one of the era's biggest metal acts. In 2008 Tankian co-wrote and traded vocals with Mike Patton on 'Bird's Eye' for the Body of Lies soundtrack.

Zimmer's Hole is a Canadian comedic thrash/heavy metal band formed in Vancouver in 1991 as a side project for members and friends of Strapping Young Lad. The lineup pairs vocalist Chris Valagao with three Strapping Young Lad alumni — guitarist Jed Simon, bassist Byron Stroud and drummer Gene Hoglan — playing fast, riff-driven thrash laced with tongue-in-cheek humor and song parodies rather than genuine genre experimentation. Across three albums (Bound by Fire, 1997; Legion of Flames, 2001; and the Motley Crue-inverting concept record When You Were Shouting at the Devil...We Were in League with Satan, 2008) the band trades on satire and over-the-top metal imagery. The debut was produced by Devin Townsend and released on his Hevy Devy Records label.

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