Salem, Oregon's Leech have evolved from stripped-down black metal roots into a multi-genre hybrid drawing on folk and doom — a long-running project reflecting the Pacific Northwest's pagan sensibilities.

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.

Franklin Square's Leeds Point tap into Long Island's blue-collar metal tradition, blending heavy and stoner metal into a riff-heavy, earthy sound that has been growing steadily since 2014.

Hailing from the Jersey Shore marshlands, Leeds Point have been carving out punishing death metal since 2014. Named for the desolate coastal wilderness that spawned the Jersey Devil legend, their sound matches the mythology — cold, unrelenting, and mean.

Queens crossover veterans Leeway have been crashing hardcore and thrash together since their reformation in 2012, carrying on a tradition they helped build in the New York underground decades prior. Pit-ready riffs with street-level aggression are their calling card.

Out of the Tri-Cities, Washington, Left After Death arrived in 2025 fusing deathcore breakdowns with blackened atmospherics and death metal brutality. The band hits hard from the jump, blending suffocating heaviness with an icy, corrosive edge.

Charleston, West Virginia's Left Behind drag sludge and stoner metal through a metalcore filter, letting the Appalachian weight of their hometown seep into every lumbering riff. Slow-burning and heavy, they have been at it since 2013 with no signs of lightening up.

Richmond, Virginia is no stranger to mean-spirited death metal, and Left Cross have fit right in since forming in 2015. Straight-ahead and unornamented, their sound punches with the blunt efficiency implied by the name.

Venomous Depressive Black Metal from Houston.