Explore California Metal
Featured Album
Necromanteum (2023)
Featured Black Metal Album
Vertigo (Sunbather: 10th Anniversary Remix / Remaster) (2023)
Featured Artist with an Upcoming Show
Featured Power Metal Album
We Three Kings (Metal Holiday) (2015)
Featured Artist with an Upcoming Show
Browse California Metal Bands
53 bands found
Castro Valley, California groove and thrash metal band delivering Bay Area heaviness with a streetwise, hard-hitting character. Creepo channels the classic Northern California metal tradition into punchy, riff-driven songs.
Monterey, California's Cremation brought a Bay Area-adjacent thrash sensibility to their aggressive early output. Their sound sits firmly in the speed and aggression of the West Coast thrash underground.
San Francisco's Cretaceous pull from both the Bay Area thrash tradition and the brutal extremity of death metal to forge a sound rooted in prehistoric heaviness. Their music evokes the crushing force of geological time and mass extinction.
San Jose's Cretin are a grind/death institution fronted by vocalist Marissa Martinez, one of the most distinctive voices in the underground. Their music is whiplash-fast and viciously articulate, earning a devoted following since the early 2000s.
Los Angeles speed and thrash metal band trading in blistering tempos, razor-edged riffwork, and a relentless forward momentum deeply rooted in the California metal underground.
La Mesa, California death-thrash band fusing the technical brutality of death metal with thrash's street-level aggression, resulting in a relentless and uncompromising assault.
Sacramento power/speed/thrash outfit Critical Mass deliver high-octane riff attacks rooted in the Bay Area tradition, blending melodic power metal hooks with aggressive thrash tempos.
Los Angeles-based Crom cast an unusually wide net across doom, sludge, grind, power, and thrash, resulting in a chaotic and unpredictable strain of heavy music from the SoCal underground.
Placerville, California thrash band Cross operate in the tradition of Bay Area and Northern California thrash, delivering straightforward, riff-first aggression from the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.
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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.