Formed by founding members of grindcore legends Insect Warfare, including drummer Dobber Beverly. Named after the Bolt Thrower album.

Formed in 2017 out of Arcata in California's remote Humboldt County, War Möth traffics in pure heavy metal with the isolated, self-reliant energy that comes from being far outside any major scene. Their name — a nocturnal thing drawn to destruction — suits the deliberate, no-frills approach they bring to traditional metal riffing. There is something unpolished and genuinely hard-bitten about what they do.

War Prison formed in Tucson in 2019, fusing the caustic intensity of Sonoran Desert hardcore with the surgical brutality of death metal. The band operates where pit-ready aggression and outright death metal violence are functionally indistinguishable — every riff an instrument of damage. Tucson's scene has long punched above its weight, and War Prison carries that tradition forward with no apology.

Coming out of Vinton, Virginia in 2025, War Theory arrived fully formed with a blend of thrash, death, and groove metal that sounds like it has been cooking for years. Their approach favors the visceral forward momentum of thrash, thickened by death metal's ruthlessness and given a punishing mid-tempo swing by groove. A young band with a clear-eyed sense of exactly the kind of metal they want to make.

Nashville's War Within have been grinding since 2014 in the space where thrash metal's velocity meets groove metal's locked-in rhythmic authority. They bring a working-class directness to their songwriting that feels native to Nashville's DIY culture outside the country industry — muscular, no-frills, and hard to ignore in a live setting. The groove is the weapon; the thrash is the delivery system.

San Antonio thrash metal. Signed to Phil Anselmo's Housecore Records, delivering punishing modern thrash.

Baltimore's Warbrides have been trafficking in sludge and stoner metal since 2013, drawing on the city's long tradition of slow, punishing heaviness. Their sound has the hazy, narcotic pull of stoner metal anchored by the righteous misery of sludge — feedback-drenched and unhurried, but never slack. Baltimore breeds heavy music with a particular grimness, and Warbrides wear that heritage in every riff.

Denver's WarCrown formed in 2021 with an approach to progressive doom metal that emphasizes space and architecture as much as weight. Their songs move through extended passages of shifting dynamics, pairing the patience of doom with the structural ambition of progressive metal. In a city already saturated with excellent heavy music, they carve out a distinct identity through careful, deliberate composition.

Phoenix's Wardog have been channeling the twin spirits of heavy and power metal since 2017, favoring the kind of soaring, anthem-ready songwriting that treats every riff as a rallying cry. Their sound is unapologetic in its love for traditional metal — twin guitar leads, driving rhythms, and vocals that push skyward. In the scorching heat of the Phoenix scene, Wardog brings the energy of the open road.