Worcester, Massachusetts duo Crystal Dagger play high-energy heavy and speed metal with a classic 80s edge, channeling the raw spirit of early metal into hook-laden, fist-pumping songs.

Los Angeles's Cult of the Damned carry the torch for classic power and speed metal in a city more often associated with death and black metal extremity. The band channels the high-energy, melodic aggression of the genre's golden era into a sound that is both propulsive and anthemic.

Schaumburg, Illinois' Dagoth channels the speed metal and thrash overlap where tempos hit maximum velocity and the riffs carry a razor-sharp urgency. Since 2018, they've embraced the more amphetamine-fueled end of the thrash spectrum.

Hailing from Massapequa Park on Long Island, Damaged have been keeping the old-school thrash flame alive since 2014 with riff-driven, pit-ready material. Their approach is rooted in the classic East Coast thrash tradition, unpolished and uncompromising.

Dark Deception out of Hampstead deal in the velocity-heavy overlap of thrash, speed, and power metal — songs that push hard on the accelerator and rarely let up. Formed in 2018, they favor aggression calibrated with the precision of classic power metal.

Portland's DarkBlack combines power metal's epic ambitions with speed metal's raw drive, a project that has been pushing high-octane riff craft since 2009 with the kind of old-school conviction that never quite fell out of fashion.

Hailing from Roy, Utah, Davidian tear through the thrash and speed metal playbook with relentless aggression and tightly wound riffs. Formed in 2017, they keep the raw, unpolished energy of classic speed metal alive in an era that rarely demands it.

Grants Pass, Oregon's Dead Leslie tear through speed and thrash metal with the stripped-down urgency of a small-town act with something to prove, formed in 2020 in the Rogue Valley's fringes. Fast tempos and sharp riffs are their native language.

Syracuse's Deadrider smash heavy, speed, and thrash metal together with the reckless confidence of a band that grew up on Iron Maiden and Destruction in equal measure. Since 2014, they've been one of upstate New York's harder-hitting underground exports.