Central Valley, California band fusing black and death metal into a raw and confrontational sound. Cursed CA operates in the underground with caustic riffs and an unpolished ferocity.

San Jose, California blackened death metal band forging a sound out of the collision between black metal's cold atmosphere and death metal's brutal low end. Cyanic channels Bay Area underground extremity with menace and weight.

Bakersfield, California melodic black metal band blending the atmosphere of black metal with melodic death metal's harmonic sensibility. Cybil brings Central Valley underground intensity to a style rooted in darkness and melody.

San Francisco band fusing melodic death metal with black metal atmosphere and Bay Area extreme metal ferocity. Cyclaera builds its sound on twin-guitar melody and black metal coldness, tempered by death metal's brutal drive.

Palm Desert, California brutal death and slam metal project known for grotesque sonic extremity and experimental tendencies. Cytoplasm pushes the outer limits of brutal death metal with unconventional, visceral compositions from the California desert.

Los Angeles' Daemonic approaches death metal with a directness befitting the city's storied extreme underground — no baroque ornamentation, just grinding heaviness and sharp, purposeful riffing. They've been at it since 2020, adding another entry to Southern California's long death metal legacy.

Los Angeles' Damascus grind out death/thrash metal with a West Coast ferocity that draws on both technical death metal precision and thrash's instinctive directness. Formed in 2011, they represent the harder-edged side of the LA underground.

Hailing from Menifee, California, Damnum sculpt atmospheric black metal that trades in grief and grandeur in equal measure, letting melancholy melodies ripple beneath a fog of dissonance. The project has been releasing emotionally charged work since its 2019 formation.

Seal Beach's Dark Days emerged in 2018 with death metal that sits comfortably within Southern California's tradition of technical brutality and tightly coiled aggression. The name turns out to be an accurate weather forecast.