Orange County, California doom metal project shrouded in mystery. Their untitled debut channels the genre's most spectral qualities, the name evoking ghostly visitations rendered in crushing heaviness.

San Francisco doom and gothic metal project whose 2017 single Angel blends dark beauty with crushing weight. A contribution to the Bay Area's diverse heavy music ecosystem.

San Diego metalcore titans and one of the genre's most influential American acts. Seven releases spanning their Bandcamp catalog — including landmark albums Awakened and Shaped by Fire — showcase the precise dual-guitar harmonies and relentless energy that helped define modern metalcore from Southern California.

California doom band whose name perfectly captures their approach — massive, sky-reaching riffs that slowly elevate through crushing weight into transcendent heaviness.

Los Angeles black/melodic death metal hybrid exploring ancient Near Eastern mythology through extreme metal, reflecting L.A.'s multicultural influence on its underground music.

Seattle/Long Beach doom and drone metal project. The minimalist name matches their approach — glacially paced, frequency-obsessed heaviness that operates at the outer reaches of metal's slowest subgenre.

Oakland/San Francisco sludge metal project with deep roots stretching back to 2003. Five releases including the lowercase-titled atone summer beats and beyond the clouds reveal a veteran act that has evolved from pure sludge into more atmospheric territory across two decades.

Author & Punisher is the solo industrial doom and drone metal project of San Diego-based mechanical engineer Tristan Shone, active since 2004. Shone performs entirely on custom-fabricated machines and controllers called Drone Machines, devices that grew out of his masters thesis at the University of California, San Diego, and which draw directly from industrial robotics and automation. His catalog includes numerous releases on Relapse Records, with Nocturnal Birding arriving in October 2025 and marking the first time a second full bandmember, guitarist Doug Sabolick, has joined the project.