Bakersfield, California Tolkien-obsessed black metal project crafting epic narratives from the Silmarillion since 2019. Named after one of the cursed swords of Middle-earth, their albums trace specific tales — Tuor's journey to Gondolin, the sea-longing of the Elves — through atmospheric black metal that takes its literary source material with scholarly seriousness.

California NWOTHM project whose 2015 singles collection The Great Attraction channels Orwellian themes through traditional heavy metal. A dystopian lens on the genre's escapist traditions.

Boulder Creek black metal project from the California underground.

Oakland death metal and metalcore fusion named after the suborder containing dragonflies. Their 2018 debut Spawn of Odonata continues the entomological theme, building an insectoid mythology through aggressive, technically accomplished heavy music from the East Bay.

Los Angeles death metal act whose 2022 debut Submission To Annihilation delivers exactly what the title promises. Unrelenting, single-minded brutality from a city that helped invent extreme music on the West Coast.

Corona heavy metal / nwothm project from the California underground.

San Francisco death metal project from the California underground.

Danville, California deathcore and grindcore pioneers with roots stretching back to 1998. Six releases across a decade make them one of the earliest American deathcore acts, predating the genre's mainstream breakthrough from the East Bay suburbs.

Paramount black metal project from the California underground.