Queens, New York groove and heavy metal act carrying the borough's working-class grit through heavy mid-tempo riffs and a street-hardened edge forged in the New York underground.

Bronx heavy/thrash outfit Critikill Mass channel the gritty street energy of New York City into a hard-hitting blend of classic metal muscle and crossover aggression.

Long Island heavy metal band Crom pay homage to the sword-and-sorcery mythology of Robert E. Howard, crafting epic, riff-forward metal steeped in classic 80s tradition.

West Babylon's Crossfire forged a classic Long Island metal sound blending the melodic ambition of power metal with thrash's raw intensity. Active in the New York underground, they brought anthemic riffs and speed to the region's storied metal scene.

Schenectady, New York heavy metal band delivering classic riff-driven metal with an old-school underground sensibility. Czar NY works in the foundational tradition of American heavy metal with directness and heavy guitar work.

Hudson, New York's Dark Fate are something of a shape-shifter — their history spans death metal, grindcore, thrash, groove, and traditional heavy metal, a genre-wandering evolution that makes them genuinely hard to pin down. Two decades of mutation with a riff always at the center.

A New York heavy/power metal act with roots going back to 2014, Dark Knight deal in the kind of muscular, hook-driven metal that nods to classic American power metal without apology.

Born in the Bronx in 2016, Dark Knights of the Soul fuse heavy and doom metal into something that carries the weight of New York City's streets — slow-burning, massive, and spiritually bleak.

Rochester's DarkStarr carry the torch for classic heavy metal songcraft, delivering hook-driven riffs and soaring vocals in a tradition that owes as much to the NWOBHM as to the hard rock clubs of upstate New York.