Hartford, Vermont's Half Past Human have been delivering metalcore since 2017, standing out simply by virtue of flying the flag in a state not typically associated with the genre. Earnest, aggressive, and built for small venues.

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.

Dayton, Ohio's Half-Lit brew groove metal with a Southern rock warmth, a combination that sounds loose and lived-in rather than clinical. Founded in 2019, they're the kind of band best experienced cold beer in hand.

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.

Anchorage's Halfbreed mash stoner fuzz with thrash aggression — a combination that sounds like a remote Alaskan winter: isolating, harsh, and oddly beautiful. One of the more distinctive acts to emerge from Alaska's small but committed metal scene since 2021.

Alabama's Halgena have been crafting melodic black metal since 2012, weaving cold atmospheric passages into material that still carries genuine ferocity. Location unknown within the state, but their sound is unmistakably Northern in character.

Ocean Springs, Mississippi's Hallelujah Gangbang match their provocative name with sludge and doom metal dredged straight from the Gulf Coast swamp — slow, mean, and spiritually filthy since 2016.

One of Maine's most idiosyncratic metal acts, Hallowed Butchery have spent over fifteen years refusing to settle — beginning as a black/grind project and gradually morphing into something incorporating doom, folk, and experimental elements. Based in Kennebec County, their music sounds like it grew out of the woods rather than any rehearsal space.

Detroit's Halloween carry the torch for classic American heavy metal, a city-fitting lineage given Detroit's deep rock and roll roots. Active since 2015, they deal in the kind of no-frills, riff-driven metal that doesn't need to be fashionable to work.