A Patient Weapon is a progressive power metal band from Antioch, California. In 2024, the band released both an EP and a full-length debut "What Makes a Blade," arriving fully formed with soaring melodies and precision musicianship.

AfterShock is a thrash metal band with roots in Honolulu, Hawaii, later based in San Francisco. Their 2020 full-length "RiSk - High-Risk Behavior" brings an island-to-mainland thrash metal attack across eleven tracks.

Alchemist is a thrash/groove metal band from Los Angeles with a prolific output of fifteen releases between 2018 and 2020. The project's rapid-fire catalog includes EPs with names like "Bread" and "BOLDFACE," suggesting an irreverent approach to heavy music.

Chino, California power metal solo project. Inland Empire melodic metal from the suburban sprawl east of Los Angeles.

Los Angeles black metal project with seven releases since 2016. Named after the towering statues guarding the river Anduin in Tolkien's Middle-earth, their albums Dark Stories of the Sidhe and Journey to the Otherworld draw from Celtic mythology as much as Norse, building an extensive catalog of folk-inflected atmospheric black metal.

Los Angeles power metal project whose 2024 single Fat Man — likely referencing the atomic bomb — pairs military nomenclature with explosive heavy metal from the City of Angels.

Modesto, California power metal act channeling epic grandeur from the Central Valley, bringing soaring melodies and triumphant riffs to an often-overlooked corner of the Golden State.

Monterey, California power metal project with five releases since 2018, including splits with international acts Ascidie and Persona Non Data. The collaborative approach and feminist-themed Herstory Untold position them at the intersection of power metal and radical politics.

Los Angeles power metal band delivering epic, anthemic heaviness from the City of Angels, channeling European-influenced grandeur through SoCal's metal-saturated scene.