Los Angeles-based Helmet carry the legacy of one of alternative metal's most rhythmically sophisticated bands — a unit whose chugging, off-kilter groove has influenced countless acts across heavy music since the early 1990s. Their locked-in, hypnotic attack remains as distinctive as ever.

Out of Wichita since 2018, Hess n Hell deal in the bruising overlap between doom's slow grind, groove metal swagger, and classic heavy riffing. Their sound is blunt and earthy, built for low-ceilinged venues and speakers pushed past their limits.

Franklin, Indiana's Hidden Dagger blend stoner haze and doom weight with groove metal's rhythmic snap, arriving at something simultaneously lumbering and propulsive. Since 2018 they've proven that mid-tempo heaviness can carry as much punch as anything faster.

Named for the Welsh concept of a longing for something irretrievably lost, Alabama's Hiraeth bring groove metal's propulsive rhythms and sludge's corrosive weight to bear on an emotional register that matches the word. Out of Calera since 2019, they hit hard and leave a mark.

Barrington, Illinois's Hostile have been delivering groove-laced heavy metal since 2010, fusing the punch of groove metal with the directness of traditional heavy metal. Suburban Midwest aggression with a low center of gravity.

Des Moines, Iowa's Hours of Decay have been fusing the rhythmic punch of groove metal with deathcore's heaviness since 2015. Midwest persistence channeled into something dense and relentless.

Santa Cruz, California's Hunger have been serving up groove-driven thrash with a coastal menace since 2020, built on mid-paced pocket grooves and riff momentum that pulls like an undertow. Thrash by way of the Pacific.

Named after an invasive aquatic weed, Deer Park's Hydrilla chokes out the competition with thick groove riffs and a Southern swagger rooted deep in the Houston industrial corridor. Their sound hits like the humidity — heavy, inescapable, and absolutely relentless.

Central California's Orcutt-based death/groove/alternative hybrid brings an unpredictable stylistic restlessness to the table, fusing groove metal's rhythmic punch with death metal grit and alternative metal's appetite for texture.

Out of Norwalk, Ohio, Ignominious fuses death metal brutality with groove metal's rolling low-end punch — a young band that hits with calculated heaviness rather than pure chaos.

Brooklyn's Ikillya has spent over a decade sharpening a sound that pits thrash aggression against metalcore intensity and groove metal swagger, forging something street-hardened and distinctly New York.

McHenry County, Illinois' Immortum started with thrash and death metal before pivoting toward blacker, more abrasive territory — a band still in flux, following the music wherever it gets darkest.

Hudson Valley newcomers Implode arrived in 2024 dragging sludge metal's slow, crushing weight through the post-industrial quiet of Wappingers Falls, building dense, suffocating walls of noise with methodical intent.

Devastating Brutal Death Metal from Austin.

Dallas thrash/groove metal outfit Jacknife hits with the blunt force you'd expect from a band formed in the heart of Texas, combining the swaggering low-end punch of groove metal with the relentless riff attack of thrash.