Grand Rapids Underground: Dakhma, Blackgate and Flood the Desert

Grand Rapids does not always make the headlines in metal, but its small bands do some of the most interesting work. Three of them, from different corners of the genre, show how wide the scene is. A note first: we found press coverage for all three, but no official pages, and we could not confirm that any of them is active today.

Dakhma: black metal and crust without a bass

Dakhma is a trio that mixes black metal, crust and hardcore, with no bass player. Their LP Suna Kulto was included in Bandcamp Daily's "Best Metal on Bandcamp" column for January 2017. The writer described a rawer take on black metal and post-hardcore than bigger bands manage, with two tracks of about 20 minutes each that build tension slowly before breaking into screams, feedback and fast drums. The same review compared their patience to Michigan band Men As Trees. The album was sold on vinyl and cassette.

Listen on the band's Bandcamp page for Suna Kulto. Read the Bandcamp Daily column.

Blackgate: American-style power and thrash

Blackgate formed in 2013 in Grand Rapids. In a 2014 interview, guitarist Matt Cremeans explained that he started the project with most of the EP written, then found a second guitarist through Michigan metal groups on Facebook. The band's sound is described as US-style power and thrash, with fast rhythms, double bass and melodic vocals. They self-released a six-song, self-titled EP in 2014, and the interview says the work from rehearsal to printed CDs took six to eight months. The listed lineup then was David Cuffman on vocals, Matt Cremeans and a second guitarist, Zach Flora on bass and Ryan Lunsford on drums.

Read the Dead Rhetoric interview.

Flood the Desert: instrumental progressive metal

Flood the Desert is a Grand Rapids power trio that plays mostly instrumental progressive metal. Their debut EP, Stolen Prophets, has four tracks and runs just under half an hour. A 2012 review at No Clean Singing compared the progressive style to Dream Theater in the late 1980s but without the bombast and with only three players, and added that none of it is heavier than Mastodon's Crack the Skye. The band also released instrumental versions of each track.

Read the No Clean Singing review.

Why this matters

These are not famous bands. That is the point. A scene is mostly bands like these, working on records and getting a mention in a column once in a while. One of them found its second guitarist through Michigan metal groups on Facebook. If you are in one of them and have news, we would like to hear it, so we can update this post.

Sources and credits

Dakhma facts: Bandcamp Daily, January 2017, by Brad Sanders. Blackgate facts: Dead Rhetoric 2014 interview. Flood the Desert facts: No Clean Singing review, September 28, 2012. All accessed 2026-10-18. Descriptions are paraphrased; no lyrics. No images are used in this post and no audio is hosted.