Atlanta's Haunting Eden bring gothic metal's signature interplay of beauty and darkness to the Georgia scene, pairing heavy instrumentation with a melodic sensibility that leans into the theatrical and the melancholic.

Providence's Haunting Figure arrived in 2022 with black metal that carries the brooding weight you'd expect from Rhode Island's famously overcast skies — raw, isolationist, and built to linger long after the last note fades.

Des Moines thrash outfit Hauntology take their name from the concept of the past refusing to stay dead, and their music lives up to it — riff-driven and relentless, haunted by the ghosts of the genre's formative years.

Strasburg, Pennsylvania's Hauntz have been crafting no-frills thrash metal since 2018, drawing from the straightforward aggression and melodic urgency of the genre's classic era without apology or embellishment.

Baltimore speed/thrash outfit Have Mercy have been sharpening their blades since 2012, delivering the kind of lean, aggressive metal that keeps one foot in classic '80s thrash and the other stomping the accelerator. Their no-frills approach favors raw speed and tight riffing over technical flash.

Los Angeles heavy/power metal act Haven draw on the anthemic tradition of the genre, pairing muscular riffs with melodic vocal hooks that aim for the epic. Formed in 2018, the band channels the sweeping ambition of classic power metal into a contemporary package.

New Jersey's Haven traffic in the soaring melodic hooks and driving rhythm section that define heavy/power metal, carrying forward a tradition of earnest, full-throated metal forged since 2018. There's a guileless energy to their sound that recalls the genre's wide-eyed NWOBHM-influenced roots.

Born in the forests and winters of New Hampshire in 2024, Havener weave atmospheric black metal that prizes texture and mood over pure aggression. Their sound is expansive and cold, built from layered tremolo passages and cavernous production that evokes bleak northern landscapes.

Madison, Wisconsin's Haver blend melodic death metal's twin-guitar harmonies with the punishing weight of straightforward death metal, carving out a sound that's as hook-driven as it is brutal. Active since 2023, they're a young act already showing a clear command of the melodeath idiom.