Mineral Wells, Texas groove/thrash outfit Debri has been leaving a trail of heavy riff wreckage across the state since 2019, blending the neck-snapping punch of groove metal with thrash's natural velocity. Texas-sized attitude, small-town ferocity.

Out of Dallas since 2018, Depth-Charge deal in the kind of groove metal that hits like a sledgehammer wrapped in Southern heat. Their Southern metal leanings give their thick, mid-paced riffs a distinctly Texan swagger, landing somewhere between bulldozing groove and swampy heaviness.

Houston's Dreadful have inhabited the bleak corridors of depressive black metal since 2012, crafting music that channels the genre's hallmark anguish and elongated misery with a sincerity that distinguishes them from mere aesthetic exercise. Their Bandcamp presence connects them to a small but devoted audience that seeks out black metal as a form of emotional reckoning rather than spectacle. In a Texas scene dominated by death metal and sludge, they carve out a distinctly isolated and introspective space.

Dallas's Eloi blend groove metal's hip-swinging heaviness with thrash's aggression, a combination that fits the Texas tradition of metal that wants to move the room as much as destroy it.

Heavy Thrash / Death Metal out of Texas.

Dallas groove metal crew Fallen South have been a fixture in the North Texas scene since 2012, delivering the heavy mid-tempo stomp that makes groove metal ideal for loud rooms and unforgiving PA systems. Their name nods to their Southern roots while the music delivers all the head-down, locked-in weight the region demands.

Houston's Grimlock surfaced in 2024 with a groove metal approach built on thick, mid-paced riffs and a relentless chug — the kind of music that demands movement and doesn't waste time on subtlety. A young band with a clear and punishing purpose.

Named after an invasive aquatic weed, Deer Park's Hydrilla chokes out the competition with thick groove riffs and a Southern swagger rooted deep in the Houston industrial corridor. Their sound hits like the humidity — heavy, inescapable, and absolutely relentless.

Devastating Brutal Death Metal from Austin.