Taking their name from the cold sea fog that rolls in off the North Sea, Haar is a U.S. black metal project that conjures a similarly bleak and suffocating atmosphere. Active since 2010, they trade in the kind of desolate, windswept darkness that recalls the genre's Scandinavian origins.

Wilmington, North Carolina's Hadea refuses easy classification — their death metal foundation is filtered through progressive songwriting and experimental tendencies that set them apart from more conventional genre practitioners. Since 2014, they've been one of the more intellectually restless acts in the Southeast.

New Bedford, Massachusetts's Hadean builds sprawling, emotionally heavy music at the intersection of progressive and post-metal, where texture and dynamics matter as much as riffs. Active since 2014, they bring the bleak coastal atmosphere of the South Coast into their expansive compositions.

Named for the Chinese sea god, Rochester's Haishen bring a progressive metal sensibility to upstate New York since 2020. Technically ambitious and melodically adventurous, they favor complexity over brute force.

Technical Progressive / Groove Metal from Lewisville.

Sarasota's Half Ton Hammer fuse progressive metal's structural ambition with groove metal's visceral punch, resulting in something heavier and more dynamic than either genre alone. Florida has a long tradition of heavy music, and these guys fit right in.

Philadelphia's Half-Ton of Humanity take the mechanical churn of progressive thrash and push it through a classic heavy metal sensibility, landing somewhere between technical and anthemic. They've been at it since 2020 in one of the East Coast's most competitive metal cities.

Rochester, New York's Halothane approach melodic and progressive death metal with the methodical focus the genre demands, weaving technical ambition into compositions that never lose their emotional thread. Active since 2019.

Kansas City's Hammerhedd started as a progressive thrash and groove act in 2018 before letting progressive rock sensibilities creep in over time, documenting a genuinely curious musical evolution across their catalog.

San Francisco's Hammers of Misfortune are one of progressive metal's most distinctive acts, weaving literary concepts, classic rock textures, and heavy arrangements into albums that reward close listening. A landmark band in the city's underground.

Yonkers, New York's Hanging Garden charts a different course — progressive death metal with ambition and technical edge, building compositional complexity into the brutality since 2013.

Silicon Valley's Harass have been bringing thrash metal to Santa Clara since 2012, a Bay Area band working in the shadow of legends but doing it with enough aggression and conviction to carve their own space.

Jacksonville's Hardwired blends neoclassical flair with progressive metal's technical ambition, drawing on shred tradition as much as compositional complexity. Formed in 2016, they navigate the space between virtuosic guitar work and expansive song structures.

Los Angeles's Harum Scarum have been a fixture of the city's progressive thrash underground since 2014, fusing speed metal's kinetic energy with progressive structures that don't sacrifice aggression for sophistication. They move fast and think hard simultaneously.

New Jersey's Hath construct progressive blackened death metal with uncommon depth and ambition, weaving labyrinthine song structures through blasts of ferocity and passages of unsettling atmosphere.