Must… listen… to… everything… to… find… the… diamonds… in… the… rough! It’s exhausting but ultimately worth it. These unsigned bands made me raise an eyebrow recently:

• Burn Everything: Progressive post-hardcore? Dillinger / Burnt By the Sun-esque mathcore? Some other ultimately meaningless label? Beats me… how about just “good”? Burn Everything even introduce elements like elephants marching riffs, Morbid Angel pick scrapes and relentless double-bass pounding you don’t normally hear from bands that fall on the more hardcore side of the spectrum. A true melding of hardcore and metal that isn’t — gasp — “metalcore.” These guys get my vote for sure. Download their album Last Run Through the Ruins for free at Bandcamp.
• MaelstroM: Odin knows that pagan/folk/viking/whatever metal has fallen out of favor since it momentarily exploded onto the scene in 2008-2009, but every so often a band in that micro-genre comes along that piques our interest. Long Island crew MaelstroM have some of the trademarks of that genre — vocals that occasionally soar, fantasy-themed artwork, keyboards — but theirs is a brand that’s distinctly thrashier and a whole lot less cheesy than most of what we hear. Great guitar work, too. Check out their 2008 EP It Was Predestined on Bandcamp, also available for free download.
• Bloodworm: I’ve never heard of this band’s label, Wartime Records, whose official site says they launched in 2010… so I’m calling a mulligan here on “Unsigned” status. Signed or not, Bloodworm rip; part Refused, part something way more true hardcore, part Gojira / elephants marching. Dig it here.