Cleveland's Vulgar Devils have been playing no-frills heavy metal since 2016, carrying the torch for the blue-collar hard rock grit that once defined the Ohio scene. Their sound is rooted in the classic tradition — riffs first, attitude always.

Seattle's Vulgaris formed in 2019, drawing on both the city's heavy music heritage and the Pacific Northwest's overcast gloom to craft a sound that moves between doom metal's funeral-paced weight and traditional heavy metal's hooks. The tension between those two poles keeps the material unpredictable.

Kansas City heavy metal band carrying on the tradition of classic metal since 2014, rooted in the no-frills, riff-forward style that defined the genre before subgenres splintered in every direction. They're a reliable presence in the Missouri underground, built on hooks and volume.

W.A.S.P. was formed in Los Angeles, California in 1982 by vocalist and bassist Blackie Lawless, becoming one of the most notoriously theatrical acts of the 1980s metal scene through provocative live performances and shock rock imagery that earned them a place in the Parents Music Resource Center's "Filthy Fifteen" list of objectionable songs. Their self-titled debut (1984) and The Last Command (1985) were both RIAA gold-certified, and The Headless Children (1989) marked a critical turning point toward a more serious, album-oriented approach. With over 12 million records sold worldwide, W.A.S.P. remains active under Lawless's direction, releasing their most recent studio album Golgotha in 2015.

War Curse formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2013, playing old-school thrash metal with a contemporary edge that draws on Bay Area and Teutonic traditions. The band released their debut material through Static Tension Recordings before signing to Blacklight Media/Metal Blade Records, under which they released Eradication (2019) and Confession (2023), steadily building a reputation as one of the more consistent acts in the current American thrash underground.

Formed in 2017 out of Arcata in California's remote Humboldt County, War Möth traffics in pure heavy metal with the isolated, self-reliant energy that comes from being far outside any major scene. Their name — a nocturnal thing drawn to destruction — suits the deliberate, no-frills approach they bring to traditional metal riffing. There is something unpolished and genuinely hard-bitten about what they do.

Phoenix's Wardog have been channeling the twin spirits of heavy and power metal since 2017, favoring the kind of soaring, anthem-ready songwriting that treats every riff as a rallying cry. Their sound is unapologetic in its love for traditional metal — twin guitar leads, driving rhythms, and vocals that push skyward. In the scorching heat of the Phoenix scene, Wardog brings the energy of the open road.

Springfield, Oregon's Warlok have been playing heavy metal since 2015 with the earnest conviction of a band that cares more about the riff than about trends. Their name is a deliberate nod to the occult and the classic metal tradition, and they deliver on that promise with guitar-driven material rooted in the fundamentals of the form. The Oregon interior produces bands that have no interest in being fashionable, and Warlok is squarely in that lineage.

Warrel Dane launched his solo career in 2008 with Praises to the War Machine on Century Media Records, stepping outside his primary role as vocalist of Seattle progressive metal band Nevermore to explore a heavier and more personal album-oriented direction with production by Peter Wichers of Soilwork. At the time of his death from a heart attack in São Paulo, Brazil on December 13, 2017, he had been working on a second solo album titled Shadow Work, fragments of which were later assembled and released posthumously. Dane is widely regarded as one of the most distinctive voices in progressive heavy metal.