Drawing equally from doom and traditional heavy metal, Los Angeles' King Raven have been crafting dark, riff-driven songs since 2014. Their sound carries a gothic weight without fully surrendering to doom's slowest tempos.

King Woman is the San Francisco project of vocalist and songwriter Kristina Esfandiari, originally conceived as a solo endeavor around 2009 and later expanded into a full band. Their 2017 Relapse Records debut Created in the Image of Suffering, preceded by the 2015 EP Doubt on The Flenser, merged crushing doom metal with the hazy textures of shoegaze, drawing critical comparisons to Swans and Chelsea Wolfe. The follow-up, Celestial Blues (2021, Relapse), deepened the band's exploration of trauma, religious disillusionment, and atmospheric weight.

Pioneering progressive metal blending funk, soul, and gospel harmonics with heavy riffs. Musicians' musicians.

Kingdom Collapse is a San Antonio hard rock band built around vocalist Jonathan Norris and bassist Aaron Smith, whose long friendship became the core of the group. Formed in the 2010s, the band developed a modern, hook-driven sound that blends hard rock's large choruses with the weight and urgency of metalcore. Early releases such as Common Ground and War Inside helped the group establish itself through touring and a steady independent work ethic, while later singles pushed the band toward a wider national rock audience. Songs including "Uprise," "Unbreakable," "Save Me From Myself," and "Break Free" became central to their identity, using polished production, heavy guitars, and emotionally direct lyrics about grief, resilience, trauma, and survival. Kingdom Collapse's rise has been tied closely to live work, with the band sharing stages with prominent contemporary rock and metal acts and building a fanbase through constant travel. By the mid-2020s, the group had moved from regional Texas hard rock into a broader modern rock lane without losing the personal, cathartic tone at the center of its songs.

Providence, Rhode Island's Kingdom Hell have been churning out sludge metal since 2020, fitting comfortably into New England's tradition of heavy, feedback-laced music made in cold rooms and small clubs. Abrasive and deliberate in equal measure.

Kingdom of Giants make modern metalcore that favors motion, atmosphere, and emotional scale as much as blunt force. Earlier albums such as Every Wave of Sound, Ground Culture, and All the Hell You've Got to Spare established a foundation of screamed vocals, melodic guitar lines, and post-hardcore urgency, while Passenger refined the band into a more spacious and cinematic version of itself. Dana Willax's harsh vocals give the songs their pressure point, but the clean hooks, electronic programming, and open guitar passages are just as important to the identity. Their writing often feels like a series of forward pushes: tight verses, glowing synth textures, wide choruses, and sudden breakdowns that pull the songs back to the floor. The heavier sections are measured rather than chaotic, leaving room for atmosphere to build before impact. Kingdom of Giants fit into the same modern metalcore lane as bands that treat ambience and melody as structural pieces, not decoration. Their best work turns conflict into movement, using contrast to make both the melodic peaks and the breakdowns feel earned.

New Orleans' Kingdom of Sorrow merge the swampy heaviness of sludge metal with metalcore's structural intensity, and the combination carries the weight of a city that has always made music sound like survival. Active since 2008 and deeply rooted in the Crescent City's heavy scene.

San Francisco Bay Area's Kingdom Scorned play melodic metalcore with a hook-forward sensibility, drawing on the region's long history of technically proficient heavy music. Formed in 2012, their sound prioritizes emotional impact as much as aggression.

Portland groove metal outfit formed in 2019, Kingdom Under Fire brings the Pacific Northwest's heaviness to a style rooted in down-tuned riffs and rhythmic punch. Their sound channels the city's legacy of weighty, hard-hitting metal into driving, head-down groove.