Explore California Metal
Featured Album
Necromanteum (2023)
Featured Black Metal Album
Vertigo (Sunbather: 10th Anniversary Remix / Remaster) (2023)
Featured Artist with an Upcoming Show
Featured Power Metal Album
We Three Kings (Metal Holiday) (2015)
Featured Artist with an Upcoming Show
Browse California Metal Bands
101 bands found
Costa Mesa, California's Crematory Stench deliver old-school death metal with an emphasis on putrid atmosphere and lurching, mid-paced heaviness. They draw from the morbid tradition of early Florida and Swedish death metal forebears.
Orange County, California death metal act Crepitus bring the grinding, bone-dry brutality of Southern California's underground scene to their work. Their sound is unadorned and visceral, built on punishing riffs and relentless tempos.
Redwood City's Crepuscle blend melodic death metal's harmonic sophistication with symphonic orchestration and an underlying death metal brutality. The Bay Area band crafts expansive, dramatic metal that balances heaviness with melody.
San Francisco's Cretaceous pull from both the Bay Area thrash tradition and the brutal extremity of death metal to forge a sound rooted in prehistoric heaviness. Their music evokes the crushing force of geological time and mass extinction.
San Jose's Cretin are a grind/death institution fronted by vocalist Marissa Martinez, one of the most distinctive voices in the underground. Their music is whiplash-fast and viciously articulate, earning a devoted following since the early 2000s.
Los Angeles speed and thrash metal band trading in blistering tempos, razor-edged riffwork, and a relentless forward momentum deeply rooted in the California metal underground.
La Mesa, California death-thrash band fusing the technical brutality of death metal with thrash's street-level aggression, resulting in a relentless and uncompromising assault.
Los Angeles technical death metal act pushing the genre's compositional and instrumental limits with dense, intricate arrangements. Their music is demanding and cerebral, rewarding careful listeners.
Clovis, California death-thrash outfit delivering high-velocity riff assaults from the Central Valley's underground scene. Their sound leans on classic genre mechanics executed with directness and conviction.
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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.
Browse our index for California thrash metal bands. Filter by genre to discover thrash metal, crossover thrash, and speed metal bands. Our index covers all heavy metal bands including death metal, black metal, doom, and metalcore.
Yes — we index metalcore bands, doom metal bands, and every heavy metal subgenre. Browse California metalcore, doom metal, sludge metal, stoner metal, progressive metal, power metal, and more.
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.
Filter by city and state to find heavy metal bands near you. Each band page includes streaming links, genre tags, and upcoming metal concerts. Discover death metal, black metal, thrash, doom, and all heavy metal bands in your area.
Visit our shows page for California metal concerts — death metal shows, black metal concerts, thrash metal shows, doom concerts, and all heavy metal events. Updated daily with ticket links from Ticketmaster and SeatGeek.
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.