40 Grit was an alternative and nu metal band formed in Concord, California in 1996, releasing their debut album Heads in 2000. The band balanced downtuned, Korn-influenced riffing with melodic vocals, occupying the heavier end of the late-1990s alt-metal spectrum. They released material through Metal Blade Records before disbanding in 2004.

Adema is an American nu metal band formed in Bakersfield, California in 2000, featuring vocalist Mark Chavez, who is the half-brother of Korn's Jonathan Davis. The band signed to Arista Records and achieved mainstream visibility with their self-titled debut in 2001, driven by the singles "Giving In" and "The Way You Like It," followed by Unstable in 2003. Despite significant lineup instability throughout their career, they remained active with intermittent activity into the 2010s.

San Francisco's Faith No More need little introduction: since their mid-1980s beginnings they redefined what metal and rock could be, and their 2015 reunion confirmed that their restless, genre-dissolving approach to avant-garde alternative metal still has nowhere obvious to land.

Central California's Orcutt-based death/groove/alternative hybrid brings an unpredictable stylistic restlessness to the table, fusing groove metal's rhythmic punch with death metal grit and alternative metal's appetite for texture.

My Ruin was formed in Los Angeles, California in 1999 by rapper-turned-metal vocalist Tairrie B and guitarist Mick Murphy, shortly after the dissolution of her previous band Tura Satana. The duo's output blends alternative metal and nu-metal with industrial influences, screamed and melodic vocals, and spoken word, documented across a string of independently released albums on their own Rovena Recordings label. The band built a particularly devoted following in the United Kingdom through consistent touring.

Otep was a Los Angeles nu-metal and alternative metal band formed in November 2000, led throughout its existence by vocalist and poet Otep Shamaya. After being selected by Sharon Osbourne for Ozzfest 2001 and signed to Capitol Records without a demo, the band released two Capitol albums — Sevas Tra (2002) and House of Secrets (2004) — followed by five more through Victory Records and Napalm Records, with the final album The God Slayer appearing in 2023 via Cleopatra Records. Shamaya announced her retirement from music in November 2024, ending the band after a twenty-four-year run.

Oakland's Praying has been trafficking in a heavy, corrosive blend of sludge, doom, and alternative metal since 2015, rooted in the Bay Area's tradition of bands that use sheer heaviness as emotional expression rather than mere spectacle. The alt-metal thread gives their sound an unexpected melodic accessibility that makes the sludge-doom density hit harder by contrast — ugly and abrasive in all the right moments, but never without purpose. Oakland's gritty character bleeds into every note.

Shortie was a nu metal and alternative metal band from Sacramento, California, formed in 1998 and signed to Earache Records. The band released two studio albums—Watching You Drown and Wipe Your Eyes—during the peak years of the nu metal era before disbanding in 2006. They remained a fixture of the underground California nu metal scene without achieving significant mainstream commercial traction.

Chino Hills, California's The Armiger blend stoner metal's heavy, reverberated weight with alternative metal's more melodic and dynamic sensibilities, creating a sound that's equally suited to festival stages and smoky rehearsal spaces. Formed in 2011, they represent the Southern California approach to heavy music: sun-bleached but substantial, catchy but never lightweight.