Asheville, North Carolina's Lammoth draw on Tolkien mythology for their name and channel it through melodic black metal rich with atmosphere and mountainous grandeur. Formed in 2021, they fit naturally into the Appalachian city's thriving underground.

Speed metal delivered at maximum velocity with a thrash backbone, Los Angeles' Last Rites have been tearing up the West Coast scene since 2002.

Pittsburgh's Last Will stretch thrash metal across a progressive skeleton, threading speed and technical ambition into songs that reward repeat listens as much as they reward headbanging.

Los Angeles speed-thrash unit Lawnmower have been dismembering everything in their path since 2010, with a name that perfectly describes what their riffs do to the listener.

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.

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.

One of America's longest-running progressive power metal acts, Lethal have been crafting keyboard-laced, melodically adventurous heavy metal from Hebron, Kentucky since the mid-1960s — a true institutional presence.

Stamford, Connecticut's Liege Lord are one of the East Coast's finest power and speed metal artifacts, sharpening their twin-guitar attack since 1987 into a body of work that still cleaves clean.