Hartford, Vermont's Half Past Human have been delivering metalcore since 2017, standing out simply by virtue of flying the flag in a state not typically associated with the genre. Earnest, aggressive, and built for small venues.

Winona, Minnesota's Harbinger blend groove and thrash metal into a mid-sized town sound with outsized bite, active since 2015 in a state with a fierce and underappreciated metal pedigree.

Milwaukee's Harlots have spent two decades sharpening the intersection of metalcore and technical death metal into something genuinely punishing. Formed in 2004, they bring the rhythmic punch of the former and the surgical precision of the latter in equal measure.

Mount Laurel's Hate Breeder, formed in 2024, navigate the space between melodic death metal's harmonic sophistication and metalcore's structural punch. A fresh entry in New Jersey's growing extreme metal scene.

Akron's Hate Theory have been working the fertile middle ground between death metal and metalcore since 2017, building a sound with the brutality of the former and the structural hooks of the latter. Ohio's industrial heritage informs their heavy, purposeful approach.

Hard-hitting metalcore from San Marcos.

Rancho Cucamonga's Havocxx fuse the melodic leads of Gothenburg death metal with the chug and breakdown vocabulary of metalcore, a hybrid approach that's been their calling card since 2017. The tension between the two styles gives their Inland Empire take on the crossover sound its kinetic edge.

Georgia's Heartless have been practicing a stripped-down, unadorned black metal since 2008, operating with the uncompromising conviction of an act that has no interest in mainstream accessibility. Their sound is lean and cold, indifferent to trends.

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.

Lowell, Massachusetts veterans Hell Within have been refining their brand of technically precise metalcore since 2005, well before the genre's peaks and valleys of commercial visibility. Their longevity speaks to a genuine conviction in the sound rather than an eye on any scene's fortunes.

Burlington, North Carolina's Hermaeus Mora began as an atmospheric black and death metal act in 2015 before evolving toward metalcore, always guided by a cinematic heaviness and an appetite for transformation. Named for the Daedric Prince of forbidden knowledge, they've pursued their own sonic secrets across several years of restless genre movement.

Colorado Springs' Hit the Shadows work the metalcore format with the earnestness typical of the genre's Mountain West scene — heavy breakdowns, melodic passages, and a straightforward emotional directness that doesn't complicate what the genre does well.

Amarillo, Texas's Hubris have been bringing metalcore's emotional intensity to the Texas Panhandle since 2015, where the flat horizon and punishing wind seem to breed a certain grim determination. Melodic but never soft.

Castle Rock, Colorado's Hämärä — Finnish for "twilight" or "dim" — bring a brooding intensity to their metalcore that earns the name. Formed in 2019, they craft emotionally charged, hard-hitting songs that sit in that uncomfortable space between light and dark.