Explore California Metal
Featured Album
Death's Forgotten Children (2023)
Featured Death Metal Album
Necromanteum (2023)
Featured Artist with an Upcoming Show
One Day Closer to the End of the World (2019)
05/12 @ The Basement East, Nashville
Featured Melodic Death Metal Album
From Days Unto Darkness (2019)
Featured Artist with an Upcoming Show
Browse California Metal Bands
217 bands found
Santa Cruz, California melodic death metal project. Biblical language channeled through Scandinavian-influenced riffing from the coastal redwoods.
After Dark is a heavy metal band from Sacramento, California that blends classic metal with punk energy. Their full-length "New Dawn Rising" (2021) and its 2024 expanded edition showcase a band rooted in the raw, no-frills intersection of metal and punk.
California doom band whose name perfectly captures their approach — massive, sky-reaching riffs that slowly elevate through crushing weight into transcendent heaviness.
Los Angeles progressive metal project with twelve releases since 2024. Their rapid-fire output — including the Amor Fati EP drawing on Nietzschean philosophy — builds one of the most prolific prog catalogs in recent LA history.
A California black metal band active in 2001 whose short discography includes two early demos before disbanding.
Veteran heavy/power metal band from San Diego, California active since 1992 who persevered through the grunge era and went on to open for Iron Maiden, Dio, and Judas Priest, anchored by vocalist Sean Peck and guitarist Dave Garcia.
San Diego's Call of the Wild blend heavy, doom, and stoner metal with hard rock into a thick, riff-driven sound that has been rolling since 2020.
Sacramento act blending technical death metal with progressive structures and thrash-driven aggression, channeling complex rhythmic shifts into a sound that feels both cerebral and visceral.
This California-based Castle play meat-and-potatoes heavy metal with roots in the classic tradition — straightforward song structures, melodic hooks, and a sound that owes as much to the NWOBHM as to anything modern.
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View all threads →Frequently asked questions
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.