Houston newcomers Held in Orbit blend melodic heavy metal hooks with the angular punch of metalcore, arriving in 2023 with a sound that orbits the line between anthem and aggression. Their songs carry the epic sweep of classic metal filtered through a contemporary lens.

San Francisco's Hell Fire have been feeding the Bay Area's appetite for old-school speed and heavy metal since 2016, channeling the raw swagger of the genre's golden era with genuine reverence and plenty of leather. Their riffs hit like a fist to the face on a Friday night.

Cookeville, Tennessee's Hell Hound keeps the fires of traditional heavy metal and hard rock burning with blue-collar conviction. Since 2015, the band has delivered straightforward guitar-driven metal rooted firmly in the genre's working-class backbone.

Salt Lake City's Hellbender found their footing in 2020 crafting heavy and power metal that balances muscular riffing with melodic ambition. The band channels classic metal's sense of adventure into tight, anthem-ready songwriting.

Chicago's Hellbound Sons arrived in 2025 waving the flag for classic heavy metal and hard rock in a city with deep roots in both. Stripped of pretense and loaded with riff, they represent a straight-line back to the genre's foundational pleasures.

Kalamazoo, Michigan's Hellhole channel the sweeping melodic death metal tradition into tight, riff-driven songs that balance brutality with songcraft since 2013. Melody and violence coexist in their work without either element compromising the other.

Named after a 19th-century repeating rifle, Mount Shasta's Hellrïegel traffic in the kind of classic heavy metal that feels both timeless and remote — fitting for a band rooted in the shadow of a dormant volcano in Northern California. Formed in 2020, they carry the old-school torch with conviction.

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.

Florida's Helms Deep arrived in 2023 armed with the kind of heavy and power metal that prizes epic momentum over subtlety — loud, anthemic, and unapologetically bombastic in the tradition of the genre's great fortress-builders. A band that clearly enjoys swinging for the battlements.