Agonia is a death/thrash metal band from Los Angeles with an extraordinarily prolific output — fourteen releases since 2024 alone. The project's relentless pace includes multiple full-lengths, EPs, and singles that suggest either a deep well of material or a one-person creative torrent.

Agowilt is a drone/doom metal and crust project from Long Beach, California. Their 2012 single "Clocks Made Of Their Own Bones" hints at a band operating at the crushing intersection of drone doom and crust punk.

Agrezor is a thrash metal band from Los Angeles. Their 2023 output includes the EP "Death to Earth" alongside a reissued 2008 demo, connecting the band's present-day thrash to over a decade of underground activity.

Agriculture is a post-black metal band from Los Angeles that has quickly become one of the most talked-about acts in American underground metal. Formed by members of the hardcore and punk scenes, the band's approach to black metal is informed by shoegaze, post-rock, and a DIY ethos, earning critical acclaim and festival appearances since their emergence in 2022.

Ails is a black metal band from Oakland, California featuring former members of Ludicra, one of the Bay Area's most celebrated black metal acts. Their 2018 EP "The Unraveling" carries forward the atmospheric, emotionally complex black metal that defined their prior band.

Airs is a project from San Francisco that began as black metal/shoegaze before evolving into post-rock, shoegaze, and experimental territory. With five releases between 2013 and 2015 — including the full-length "Adore" — the project represents the genre-fluid experimentation that defines the Bay Area music scene.

Chico, California deathcore and melodeath project. Ethereal extremity from Northern California's Sacramento Valley.

Whittier, California black metal project named after the Zoroastrian demon of evil intent. Ancient Persian darkness from the LA suburbs.

Akatharsia is a black metal band from Oakland, California. Named after the Greek word for 'impurity,' the band released a 2014 demo and 2017 full-length "No Generation Without Corruption," contributing to the East Bay's rich tradition of ideologically charged black metal.