Los Angeles' Slog combine the bleakness of death-doom with black metal's icy atmosphere and death metal's brutality since their 2021 formation, creating music that crawls through the darkest possible sonic spaces. Their multi-genre approach reflects LA's ability to generate extreme metal that refuses easy categorization.

San Francisco psychedelic doom metal band formed in 2021, weaving extended lysergic textures into slow, crushing compositions rooted in the Bay Area's long history of heavy and experimental music.

Santa Paula, California band formed in 2019 that merges the aggression of death metal with metalcore structure, delivering a hard-hitting sound from the Ventura County underground.

Oakland stoner metal outfit formed in 2007, drawing from the Bay Area's rich tradition of heavy, fuzz-drenched rock with a particularly thick low-end sensibility.

Slytherin is a Los Angeles atmospheric black metal project formed in 2020, weaving dense, cold-blooded tremolo riffs and reverb-drenched ambiance into sweeping, darkly cinematic compositions.

Smoke Dweller is an atmospheric black metal and ambient project from San Luis Obispo, California, formed in 2017, fusing raw black metal textures with expansive ambient passages to create deeply immersive and desolate soundscapes.

Smoking Mirror is a death metal band from Fresno, California, formed in 2024, taking their name from the Aztec deity Tezcatlipoca and wielding brutal, technically grounded death metal with an underlying mythological darkness.

Smolder Glow is a blackened death metal band from Santa Rosa, California, formed in 2020, fusing the blast-beat ferocity and tremolo aggression of black metal with the blunt, guttural weight of death metal.

Smoldering Torso is a brutal death metal and grindcore band from Santa Venetia, California, formed in 2022, delivering relentlessly savage music that combines grindcore's speed and brevity with the gut-punching brutality of BDMG extremity.