California's Heathendom formed in 2025 as a symphonic black metal project, layering orchestral grandeur over cold, dissonant riffing in the tradition of the genre's most theatrical practitioners. They're among the newest acts in the domestic symphonic black metal scene, arriving with fully formed ambition.

Sacramento's Helion Prime deals in soaring, science-themed power metal built around virtuoso playing and dramatic vocal performances. Relaunched in 2020, the band embraces the genre's grandest traditions — epic riffs, sweeping choruses, and cosmic subject matter — without a hint of irony.

San Francisco Bay Area act Hexx formed in 1983 under the name Paradox before settling on their current name and releasing the debut No Escape on Mike Varney's Shrapnel Records in 1984, establishing themselves in the nascent US power metal scene. Their sound evolved through the speed and thrash influences of the Bay Area through the late 1980s, culminating in the Century Media-released Morbid Reality (1992), their most technically demanding record. After a long dormancy following that album, founding members reformed the band in 2013 and released Wrath of the Reaper through High Roller Records in 2017.