Boise's Voidstrider have been carving out a heavy/stoner metal niche since 2019 that also pulls freely from psychedelic rock — warm fuzz tones, riff-forward songwriting, and a loose cosmic swagger that keeps the music from feeling purely riff-mechanical. The heavy metal backbone gives their material more structure than most stoner acts, while the psychedelic rock influence keeps it from going fully headbanger. Idaho isn't overrun with bands doing this well.

Formed in Las Vegas in 2022, Von Boldt bring heavy metal to a city whose neon spectacle and underlying desert desolation make for an unexpectedly fitting backdrop for the genre. Still early in their trajectory, they're building on traditional heavy metal foundations with the kind of earnest conviction that suggests the city's outsider reputation is actually a point of pride.

Formed in 2020 in Guilderland, New York, Vortex play heavy metal grounded in the hard-driving traditions of thrash with a no-frills, riff-first approach. The band leans into the kinetic energy of classic thrash while keeping the songwriting anchored in heavy metal's melodic instincts. Short on pretension and long on velocity, they represent the continuing vitality of the upstate New York metal underground.

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.

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.

Bay Area heavy metal act Werewolf have been operating since 2008 in one of the most historically rich scenes for the genre in the world — Northern California's peninsula of metal royalty. They play traditional heavy metal that is unambiguous in its devotion to the form, shaped by decades of Bay Area precedent while belonging entirely to the current underground. Old blood, still running.

Los Angeles's White Wizzard emerged in 2009 flying the flag for classic American heavy metal with a distinctly NWOBHM-influenced sound — twin guitar harmonies, galloping rhythms, and soaring vocals reminiscent of the Sunset Strip's hard-rock glory days filtered through an iron-clad metal sensibility. They've become one of the more prominent purists in the traditional heavy metal revival, earning a dedicated following among fans who want their metal uncut and unapologetically old-school.

Forming in Los Angeles in 2024, Whoremones crash together hardcore's blunt-force aggression with heavy metal's commanding riffs into something confrontational and raw. Still freshly minted, this band represents the city's long tradition of cross-pollinating extreme subgenres into something harder to ignore than either alone.

Out of Helena, Ohio, Wicked Aura have been building their take on traditional heavy metal since 2016 — a small-town approach to the genre that strips the music back to essentials: heavy riffs, earnest vocals, and a commitment to the form that doesn't require a major market to validate it. They're part of a quiet but real current of Midwest acts keeping classic metal alive in unexpected corners of the country.

Chico, California's Wicked Sensation have been grinding away at the intersection of heavy metal and hard rock since 2001 — one of the region's most enduring acts in a genre where longevity itself is a statement. Their approach draws on the melodic, radio-friendly edge of classic hard rock while keeping the guitar work grounded in genuine metal muscle.

Nashville isn't often associated with death-doom, but Wicked Sorcerer — formed there in 2023 — arrive dragging heavy metal, death metal, and doom together into something genuinely sinister. The city's outsider quality suits this kind of music well, and the band's willingness to pull from multiple extreme subgenres gives their sound a lurching, unpredictable weight.