The Los Angeles incarnation of Killen brings progressive ambition to heavy metal's classic framework, shaping songs that stretch beyond the four-four convention without losing the genre's essential punch.

Drawing equally from doom and traditional heavy metal, Los Angeles' King Raven have been crafting dark, riff-driven songs since 2014. Their sound carries a gothic weight without fully surrendering to doom's slowest tempos.

Los Angeles' Lazer pull from heavy metal and hard rock's shared DNA, delivering music that prioritizes hooks and attitude over genre purity — unpretentious and hard-hitting since 2009.

Oxnard, California's Lazy Dogs combine speed metal's velocity with punk's snarling attitude, producing fast and feral music that belies the laidback implication of their name.

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Born out of Los Angeles in 2020, Living Darkness channel classic heavy metal's dark, hook-driven spirit into a fresh sound rooted in atmosphere and riff weight.

Lizzy Borden is a Los Angeles heavy metal band formed in 1983 by vocalist Gregory Charles Harges, who performs and records under the band's name, and drummer Joey Scott. Rooted in the shock rock theatrics of Alice Cooper and Kiss, the band signed to Metal Blade Records in 1984 and released a string of albums through the late 1980s, reaching their commercial peak with Visual Lies (1987). After a prolonged hiatus, Lizzy Borden returned with My Midnight Things (2018), their first album in eleven years, which charted on the Billboard 200.

Hayward's Lychdom craft melodic death metal anchored in traditional heavy metal songcraft, keeping hooks within reach even as the tempos accelerate and the riffs grow more complex. Active since 2016, they're one of the Bay Area underground's better-kept secrets.

Operating out of Los Angeles since 2005, Mansfield deal in straightforward heavy metal with a no-nonsense sensibility that puts songcraft ahead of excess. Two decades into the LA underground, they've built a reputation on reliability and genuine riff quality.