Richmond, Virginia's Lamb of God are one of American metal's most influential acts, forging a genre-defining blend of groove metal and metalcore that helped bring heavy music to a new generation of fans. Their catalog stands as a landmark of 21st-century metal.

Charleston, West Virginia's Left Behind drag sludge and stoner metal through a metalcore filter, letting the Appalachian weight of their hometown seep into every lumbering riff. Slow-burning and heavy, they have been at it since 2013 with no signs of lightening up.

Venomous Depressive Black Metal from Houston.

Ossining, New York's Left in Ruins pull death metal, thrash, and metalcore into a tightly wound package that has been evolving since 2013. The Hudson Valley band blend aggression and melody without softening the edges of either.

Lakeville, Minnesota's Legal Murder have been combining melodic death metal's sweep-picked drama with thrash aggression and metalcore grit since 2017. They write hooks that cut even as the tempos climb.

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania's Lest We Forget began as deathcore bruisers before expanding into progressive metalcore territory — their evolution mirrors the slow, deliberate weight of their Steel Belt hometown.

Boston metalcore unit Let Us Prey channel the city's hardcore lineage through modern metalcore construction, delivering hook-laden aggression with a predatory edge since 2020.

Out of Walla Walla, Washington, Livevil fuse groove metal's chunky swagger with metalcore aggression, carving out a hard-hitting sound that hits like a freight train.

Intense Melodic Groove Metal / Metalcore from Fort Worth.

Blistering Melodic Thrash Metal / Metalcore from Houston.

Asheville's Lord of Diamonds blend thrash riffs, metalcore crunch, and death 'n' roll swagger into a rowdy, genre-defiant attack shaped by the mountains of western North Carolina.