Los Angeles progressive power metal project whose 2013 self-titled EP lives up to the punning name — forward-thinking metal that guards the avant-garde tradition. Cerebral heaviness from the entertainment capital.

Salinas, California black metal project whose 2016 debut The Burning Chariots in the Skies channels biblical warfare imagery through atmospheric extremity from the agricultural heartland of the Central Coast.

Avenged Sevenfold formed in Huntington Beach in 1999 and became one of the most successful American metal bands of the 21st century by refusing to stay in one lane. Sounding the Seventh Trumpet and Waking the Fallen placed the band in metalcore, with screamed vocals, fast riffs, and dramatic song structures. City of Evil transformed them into a twin-guitar heavy-metal force, while Avenged Sevenfold, Nightmare, and Hail to the King pushed arena hooks, hard rock, and classic-metal influence to the front. The Stage and Life Is But a Dream... later expanded the band's progressive and experimental side, proving that their ambitions reached beyond radio metal. Avenged Sevenfold fit metal scope directly through their riffs, solos, breakdown origins, and major role in the New Wave of American Heavy Metal. Their catalog is held together by M. Shadows' theatrical vocals, Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance's guitar chemistry, and a taste for excess that can be melodic, technical, macabre, or absurd. At their best, A7X make modern metal feel grand, restless, and defiantly personal.

Phoenix thrash outfit B.O.S. is a newly formed entry into Arizona's metal scene, emerging in 2025 with the stripped-down aggression that defines the thrash underground's continuing grassroots revival.

Daytona Beach heavy metal outfit B.T. Saints has been active since 2016, drawing on Florida's deep tradition of hard-hitting metal to deliver a straightforward and unapologetically earnest take on the genre.

Los Angeles crossover/thrash and grindcore band formed in 1989 by Keith Aazami and Dirk Rogers, maintaining a relentless output across three-plus decades that includes Lynch the Weirdo (2004), Worship of Fear (2015), Taught to Fear (2022), and Decency Anomaly (2025).

Oakland sludge metal and crust band active from around 2013, fusing the abrasive weight of sludge with the rawer urgency of crust punk.

All-female punk quartet Bad Cop Bad Cop formed in Los Angeles in 2012, channeling the spirit of Fat Wreck Chords melodic punk through four-part vocal harmonies and politically charged lyrics. Their albums 'Not Sorry' and 'The Ride' deliver fast, catchy punk rock that tackles issues from mental health to social justice without sacrificing the fun. Signed to Fat Wreck Chords, they carry the torch of SoCal punk with hooks sharp enough to rival the genre's legends.

San Francisco power metal outfit with origins stretching back to 1983, operating under a previous name before adopting Bad Press — one of the Bay Area's longer-lived metal acts.