Explore California Metal

Browse California Metal Bands

54 bands found
East Los Angeles · 1979–present · active
East Los Angeles crossover thrash project from the California underground.
Oakland · 2011–present · active
Oakland grindcore outfit whose 2011 self-titled EP delivers rapid-fire aggression from the East Bay. Part of the Bay Area's long tradition of politically charged, musically ferocious extreme punk-metal.
Inglewood · 1999–present · active
Inglewood, California grindcore veterans whose 1999 debut Monarchy of Damned predates the genre's modern revival. A piece of LA County grind history from the turn of the millennium.
San Diego · 2007–present · active
San Diego death metal act with impressive longevity, spanning 2007 to 2020. Famine of A Thousand Frozen Years established their epic approach to the genre, while the much later Allies of a Fallen Empire shows a band still committed to their dark vision after over a decade.
Joshua Tree · 1994–present · active
Joshua Tree death metal project from the California underground.
San Jose · 2017–present · active
San Jose, California death metal act whose 2017 debut The Dark Curse channels occult menace through punishing extremity. Bay Area death metal with a supernatural edge.
Riverside · 2010–present · active
Riverside, California death metal outfit with three releases since 2010. Their catalog-numbered releases on DIFF suggest a methodical, label-driven approach to technical death metal from the Inland Empire.
Los Angeles · 2019–present · active
Los Angeles death metal project with a staggering thirteen releases since 2019. The Windows-error-themed Activate Windows and subsequent releases demonstrate a prolific creative engine fueled by digital-age absurdism and genuine brutality.
Riverside · 2016–present · active
Riverside, California death metal project named after the Dark Souls character, bringing video game-inspired darkness to the Inland Empire's underground with crushing heaviness.

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California Metal Index indexes hundreds of California heavy metal bands across every subgenre — death metal, black metal, thrash metal, doom metal, metalcore, hardcore punk, grindcore, sludge, stoner metal, and more. Browse heavy metal bands by genre, city, or state.
Yes — browse California death metal bands in our index. Filter by genre to find death metal, technical death metal, and melodic death metal bands. We also index black metal, thrash metal, doom metal, and all heavy metal bands.
Use the genre filter to browse California black metal bands. We index black metal, atmospheric black metal, and related subgenres alongside death metal, thrash metal, doom metal, and all heavy metal bands.
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Yes — browse California hardcore punk bands alongside heavy metal bands. We cover hardcore punk, crust punk, D-beat, grindcore, metalcore, and all heavy music subgenres.
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California Metal Index is an index of California heavy metal bands — death metal, black metal, thrash metal, doom metal, metalcore, hardcore punk, and all heavy music. Browse bands by genre, find metal concerts near you, and discover the California metal scene.