Las Vegas heavy metal band active since 2016, Kingscrossing keeps the old-school flame burning in the desert Southwest. Their approach favors straightforward, riff-forward metal with a traditional sensibility born in the neon shadows of Nevada.

Out of Port Orchard, Washington, Kitsa formed in 2023 where heavy metal and stoner metal meet the fog-laden Pacific coastline. Their sound has the sun-baked haze of stoner riffing tempered by the cold, overcast energy of the Puget Sound region.

Marietta, Ohio's KLNZR has been grinding out industrial-inflected heavy and groove metal since 2011. The band weaponizes mechanical texture and hammering rhythms, giving their sound a machine-shop rawness that fits the working-class Ohio River Valley well.

Named for the Fate who spins the thread of life, Ocala, Florida's Klothos has been weaving heavy and groove metal since 2020. Their mid-Florida origins lend a sun-bleached brutishness to a sound built on locked-in grooves and swinging, aggressive riffwork.

Middleton, Ohio's L.O.U.D. traffics in no-frills traditional heavy metal, keeping the genre's blue-collar grit front and center. Founded in 2012, their straight-ahead approach strips the genre back to pure riff-driven power.

Out of Queens, New York, Lace bring a traditional heavy metal punch sharpened on the streets of New York City. Formed in 2016, they channel classic NWOBHM energy through a distinctly American lens.

Pittsburgh's Lady Beast have spent over a decade championing traditional heavy and power metal with muscular riffs and soaring vocals rooted in the classic NWOBHM tradition. Since 2012 they've been one of the Steel City's most reliably electrifying metal acts.

Last Angel are a US heavy metal act formed in 2020 whose music carries the torch of traditional metal with clean, classic construction. Stripped of frills and built on riffs, they occupy the honest center of the genre.

Heavy metal at its most workmanlike and mean — this Last Rites welds groove's midrange punch to thrash's forward momentum, producing a no-frills assault that gets the job done.

Los Angeles' Lazer pull from heavy metal and hard rock's shared DNA, delivering music that prioritizes hooks and attitude over genre purity — unpretentious and hard-hitting since 2009.

Virginia's Lazerwitch conjure classic heavy metal in a no-frills style, with a name that perfectly telegraphs the band's blend of occult imagery and electrified riffing.

Oxnard, California's Lazy Dogs combine speed metal's velocity with punk's snarling attitude, producing fast and feral music that belies the laidback implication of their name.

Cincinnati's Leather have been delivering heavy metal stripped to its essentials since 2014 — no frills, no apologies, just the kind of riff-forward intensity that the genre was built on.

Fantasy-themed speed metal rippers forged in Houston's heavy underground. Released on Cease and Destroy Records.

Albuquerque's Leeches of Lore draw from the deep well of traditional heavy and speed metal, keeping the spirit of the NWOBHM and its American inheritors alive in the New Mexico high desert.