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Celebrity Sex Scandal is an avant-garde metal band from San Antonio, Texas, formed in 2011 by guitarist Greg Combs after the dissolution of Dog Fashion Disco, effectively continuing that band's eclectic funk/ska/metal/pop hybrid with a horn section. Debut album Derivative (2013) was Kickstarter-funded, followed by Integral (2015), The Fundamental (2020) — which featured Dog Fashion Disco alumni John Ensminger and Jeff Siegel — and Convergence of Infinite Sequences (2023) on Razor To Wrist Records.

Unmitigated Worshipplay in the dock

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The Dr. Orphyus Project is the solo vehicle of Ryan Morris, a death-metal/jazz-fusion outfit based in Clay City, Illinois and active since 2001 (per Metal Archives) with a discography running from the 2001 self-titled EP through 2011's Death Jazz and 2016's The Roustabout. Morris plays guitar, trombone, and vocals, weaving swing, Latin, grind, and even polka passages into extreme-metal songwriting, citing Mr. Bungle and Agoraphobic Nosebleed as touchstones. Comic-book concept releases (the Death Nouveau series) and an animated Death Jazz feature underline the project's theatrical, genre-scrambling bent.

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miRthkon are an Oakland sextet of two guitars, two woodwinds, bass and drums, self-described as 'an amplified chamber ensemble masquerading as a rock band,' with material fully scored down to the drum parts. Across Vehicle (2009) and Snack(s) (2013) on the Italian AltrOck label, critics describe a satirical, Zappa-inflected collision of thrash riffing, big-band horns, and jazz harmony staged with circus-like theatrical framing. Keyboardist/bassist Matt Lebofsky doubles as keyboardist in Secret Chiefs 3, giving the band a direct, sourced line into the Estradasphere/Secret Chiefs 3 orbit already on the atlas.

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Duct Tape Mustache were a Chicago-area experimental/metal/jazz band active in the early-to-mid 2000s, releasing a self-titled EP in 2002 and 'Mise En Scéne' in 2004 before disbanding in 2005. The lineup blended saxophone, keyboards, and dual guitars into a genre-hopping, horn-driven sound described online as circus-tinged avant-garde metal. Following the split, members scattered into other Chicago-scene projects including Ideamen.

Silentist is the Portland project of pianist/drummer Mark-Evan Burden (formerly of Glass Candy and Get Hustle) with vocalist August Alston, fusing classical minimalist composition with death-metal blast beats and horror-film theatricality. Across a self-titled 2008 LP and the 2009 'The Tunnel' 7-inch on Zum Audio, austere piano patterns collide with jazzy atmospheres and howled, tortured vocals. The project has been dormant since 2009.

Black Heart Sutra is a New York experimental/mathcore project centered on composer-violinist Earl Maneein (SEVEN)SUNS) and drummer Kenny Grohowski (Imperial Triumphant, Secret Chiefs 3, frequent John Zorn collaborator), expanded on record with guest vocalists including Jessica Pimentel. Their 2017 debut album "Zersetzung" (Still Water Recordings) mixes progressive-jazz harmony with mathcore's chaotic, Locust-like structural shifts.

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Pin-Up Went Down is a French experimental band from Rouen, begun in 2006 as multi-instrumentalist Alexis Damien's solo project before vocalist Aurelie 'Asphodel' Raidron joined, followed by Damien's brother Nicolas in 2010. Self-described as blending 'art rock, metal, avant-garde, and pop', their albums 2 Unlimited (2008) and 342 (2010) on Ascendance Records mix gothic, death, funk, and progressive metal beneath Asphodel's famously wide-ranging, theatrical vocal delivery; a planned third album, Perfreaktion, stalled after Asphodel's 2014 departure.

Titan to Tachyons is a New York instrumental quartet led by guitarist Sally Gates, built around a two-bassist frontline (Trevor Dunn and Matt Hollenberg) with drummer Kenny Grohowski, fusing free-jazz improv, prog counterpoint, and metal violence into sci-fi-themed instrumentals. Their 2022 album Vonals was released on John Zorn's Tzadik label (following 2020's Cactides on Nefarious Industries), and the polyrhythmic, two-bass arrangement gives the compositions an unusually dense, contrapuntal low end. Every member's other credits (Mr. Bungle, Fantômas, Tomahawk, Secret Chiefs 3, Cleric, Imperial Triumphant) wire this band into the Zorn/downtown-jazz and Patton-adjacent avant-metal orbit.

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Dog Fashion Disco is an American avant-garde metal band formed in Rockville, Maryland in 1995, built around vocalist Todd Smith and long-serving drummer John Ensminger. Frequently likened to Mr. Bungle, they splice heavy metal with jazz, circus and film-noir cabaret, 1960s psychedelia, ska and funk into whiplash, concept-driven records. A saxophone/woodwind chair (Matt Rippetoe) anchors the jazz side of the lineup, and their 2001 major-label album Anarchists of Good Taste features a guest turn from System of a Down's Serj Tankian.

Tantric Bile is the solo avant-death/free-jazz project of North American multi-instrumentalist Matt Stephens, who also leads Effluence and Neural Indent; the name is a nod to a Painkiller track. Since 2021 it has released a steady stream of albums on Stephens' own Putrefactive Recordings, blending guttural goregrind vocals with squealing saxophone-adjacent woodwinds, film samples and John Zorn/Naked City-style jump-cut composition, often joined by regular Effluence collaborators Paul Acuña and Ollie Burgess.