Santa Rosa, California thrash and groove metal band formed in 2021, combining the crunch of groove-oriented riffing with the speed and energy of Bay Area thrash.

Stormbat is a thrash/groove metal band from Watsonville, California, formed in 2013, combining the rhythmic punch of groove metal with thrash's relentless forward momentum.

San Diego brutal death metal band formed in 2023, adding to Southern California's thriving extreme metal underground with punishing low-end heaviness and unrelenting aggression.

Suffer is a Los Angeles band formed in 1993 that combines thrash and groove metal with hardcore influences, reflecting the hard-edged street energy of the Southern California metal underground across more than three decades of activity.

Suppressed Intentions is a San Luis Obispo, California band formed in 2022, fusing metalcore aggression with groove and thrash metal to produce a hybrid sound rooted in the Central Coast's emerging heavy music scene.

Modesto, California act founded in 2015 that blends deathcore brutality with groove metal's mid-tempo churn, delivering a heavy sound built on syncopated riffs and punishing low-end.

An Apple Valley, California act formed in 2021, Through the Oculus carves out a niche in melodic death and groove metal, blending hook-driven riff structures with the brutality of death metal's lower register.

Orange County's Throwdown began in 1999 as a force in metalcore and hardcore before evolving into a groove-heavy machine influenced by Pantera-style crunch, earning a loyal following across both worlds over two decades of punishing live performances.

Torch Jaw come from Tehachapi, California — a small desert town in the mountains south of the San Joaquin Valley — and forge a hybrid sound that draws from groove metal's rhythmic authority, deathcore's sonic brutality, and traditional heavy metal's riff-centric sensibility. Formed in 2021, they represent the kind of geographically isolated band that pushes genre boundaries out of creative necessity.