10 Best Bay Area Bands, According to Death-Thrash Hometown Heroes Absolute Darkness (Exclusive)
It’s always cool to get positive feedback from readers, especially those of you who keep tabs on what some lame-ass AI tool referred to as “the iconoclastic website The Bad Penny.” Hell, we’ll take it – and much more importantly, we’ll take your liking of this consummately non-mainstream and non-corporate hub for news, interviews, games, reviews and more about rad bands that mostly lurk underground.
Aaaaaanyway, it’s even more flattering to get kind words from musicians; after all, none of us would be on this website, writing and reading any of the posts, engaging in discussions and finding fulfillment in music in general were it not for those who actually make it. All of which is to say that the new series with the loose title The Bad Penny Passport is attracting so much excitement from artists that it feels like getting blindsided by a tsunami. And that enthusiasm is showing in the bands’ submissions, none better exemplified by this golden treasure of a contribution from Bay Area death thrashers Absolute Darkness.
The band began 10 years ago fueled in part by their love of death metal but also thrash metal, the genre du jour in their San Francisco hometown. We try to never pass up an opportunity for a laugh, so feast your eyes on the cover art of their first single, and you’ll get a pretty sharp insight into Absolute Darkness’ personality:
The band consisting of drummer/vocalist/guitarist Ron Dorn (drums, vocals, guitars), bassist Orson Sojo, guitarist Douglas Vetter Guitars and drummer Scott Russell are putting out their second album, Witness to a Dying World, on October 23. There’s more on that below; but first, let’s get schooled by Absolute Darkness and what they believe to be the 10 best Bay Area bands of all time.
10. Hellhunter
Orson – Hellhunter is one of those bands that scratches an itch I have for blackened thrash. Formed in San Francisco in 2004, the band combines old-school thrash and the primitive aggression of early black metal with a healthy dose of ’80s hardcore punk thrown into the mix.
The current lineup features Death Angel drummer Will Carroll behind the kit, Lawrence “Lord Godgore” Abunda on guitar, “Satanik Grizzly” on bass and Gordon “Gil” Liucifer handling vocals. Carroll brings some serious Bay Area metal history with him, having played with bands including Death Angel (of course), Vicious Rumors and Hammers of Misfortune.
Hellhunter’s roots go back more than two decades, with early influences including Celtic Frost, Baloff-era Exodus and NWOBHM. After their early demos, the band released the full-length Now…You Are His in 2016 and returned with the Hellbanger EP in 2025. The result is raw, dirty and deliberately old-school blackened thrash that sounds like it belongs equally in a sweaty punk club or a Bay Area metal show.
9. Frolic
Orson – Formed in Hayward in 2014, Frolic represents a newer generation carrying the Bay Area thrash tradition forward. The band has been making a name for itself on local stages, sharing bills with established acts including Death Angel, Suicidal Tendencies, Possessed, Forbidden, Biohazard, Eyehategod, Warbringer and Goatwhore.
Even the band’s name pays tribute to its Bay Area roots, coming from Death Angel’s 1988 album, Frolic Through the Park. Musically, however, Frolic draws from a wider range of influences, combining old-school Bay Area thrash with elements of death metal, traditional metal, progressive rock and a heavier European thrash influence. Guitarist/vocalist Edgar Sanchez’s harsh, high-pitched delivery adds another edge to the band’s sound and has invited comparisons to Kreator.
Frolic released its debut full-length, Fusion of Spirits, in 2022, followed by Legacies of Cybernetica in 2026, continuing to expand its sound while remaining firmly rooted in thrash metal.
8. Cartilage
Orson – Cartilage is a Bay Area goregrind band formed by brother-and-sister duo Mark Wallace on vocals and Teresa “Ria” Wallace Flory on guitar and backing vocals, alongside guitarist Michael Flory and drummer Adam Houmam. The idea for the band came together in late 2013, with the four members holding their first rehearsal in April 2014.
Their music draws heavily from the blood-soaked tradition of bands such as Carcass, Exhumed and Impaled, combining grinding speed, death-metal riffs and grotesque vocals with an intentionally over-the-top sense of humor. Their lyrics are filled with gore, death and medical horror, but they rarely take themselves too seriously. Song titles such as “Half the Man I Used to Be,” “The Deader the Better” and “El Necrocabra” give you a pretty good idea of what you are getting into.
Cartilage also has a direct connection to one of the Bay Area’s most established death-metal bands. Adam Houmam previously filled in behind the kit for Exhumed when Mike Hamilton was unavailable, eventually touring with the band as its live drummer. That connection makes sense: Cartilage carries forward the same combination of musical brutality, graphic horror and sick humor that has long distinguished the Bay Area’s gore-soaked corner of the metal scene.
7. Deathgrave
Orson – Formed in 2013, Deathgrave is a death-metal and grindcore band from San Jose, California. The group is made up of longtime veterans of the Bay Area underground, with current and former connections to Autopsy, Brainoil, Cyanic, Hazzards Cure, Ringwurm, Amber Asylum and several other bands.
Deathgrave’s music is rooted in death metal and grindcore, but they refuse to stay confined to either style. Their songs move through blasts of punk aggression; crushing death-metal riffs; ugly grooves; and stranger, more atmospheric passages. That unpredictability is part of what makes them stand out from a crowded field of extreme-metal bands.
Their lyrics and imagery frequently venture into death, gore and horror; and that twisted theatricality carries over into their live performances. I have watched vocalist Andre Cornejo use his microphone cord to mime strangulation and disembowelment, physically acting out the sickness and violence of the songs. Deathgrave does not merely play brutal music — the band makes its live show look and feel brutal as well.
Doug – Plague Ritual is one of my favorite current local bands. They are an Oakland death-metal band, but their sound pulls from several different corners of heavy music. They combine the weight of old-school death metal with Bay Area thrash, groove and some of the melodic edge associated with the Gothenburg sound. They are brutal in the best way. The songs change pace, hit hard, and still have riffs and melodies that stick with you.
Although Plague Ritual is a relatively new band, the musicians are not newcomers to the Bay Area metal scene. Guitarists Kosta Varvatakis and Justin Cole, along with vocalist and guitarist Kevin Paterson, are all former members of Hatriot. With three guitars in the lineup, the band can layer melody and atmosphere over the heavier riffs without sacrificing any of the aggression.
Their debut album, Where Souls Go to Die, was released in July 2026. The whole album is solid from beginning to end, with no skips. It has excellent production, but it still sounds heavy and aggressive. Phil Demmel of Vio-lence and Machine Head contributes a guest solo to “The Bloodletting,” while Matt Harvey of Exhumed appears on “Forgotten by Time.” The album closes with a cover of Merauder’s “Master Killer.”
Their live shows are super-sick, and they are genuinely good dudes. Plague Ritual is exactly the kind of band that makes me excited about what is happening in the Bay Area metal scene right now.
5. Death Angel
Ron – Death Angel followed an arc similar to Vio-lence in the early 1990s, although I perceived them as the most successful outside the Bay Area among the trio of Death Angel, Vio-lence and Forbidden.
I remember standing in line for what was supposed to be Death Angel’s triumphant hometown return. While we were waiting, word came through that the band’s tour bus had crashed and several members had been injured. The show was canceled. I had no idea at the time that Death Angel’s first incarnation was effectively coming to an end.
Death Angel did not perform again under that name until the 2001 Thrash of the Titans benefit. Of the three major reunions that night – Death Angel, Vio-lence and Forbidden – Death Angel sounded the most polished to me. Don’t get me wrong: Every band that played was awesome. However, you could still hear Vio-lence working its way back into the groove, while Forbidden Evil had the most rust to shake off. Death Angel sounded as if they had never missed a beat. They were back in full form.
They have been through several lineup changes since that show, but they have remained a steady presence ever since. Most years, I attend the annual Death Angel Christmas show in the Bay Area.
I also remember the very first Death Angel Christmas show at the Omni. James Hetfield was there, and I had the opportunity to talk and hang out with him for a while. He had recently shaved the sides of his head into what became his …And Justice for All look, and almost no one recognized him. The biggest metal musician in the Bay Area was simply leaning against a wall near the back of the club, waiting for the show to start.
4. Vio-lence
Ron – Vio-lence was the up-and-coming band when I started going to shows. Vio-lence, Death Angel and Forbidden frequently played together at the Omni, the Stone and other clubs around the Bay Area. I will never forget attending the Oppressing the Masses album-release show at the Omni.
In the early days, Vio-lence found themselves in a strange and frustrating position. Within the Bay Area, they could pack virtually any club. They could play three times in a single month in different parts of the Bay Area and sell out every show, with crowds going crazier than they did for almost any other local band. These guys were gods in the Bay Area. Then they would leave the region and receive nowhere near that same level of attention or respect.
When record labels began dropping thrash bands, Vio-lence was dropped as well. The story circulating in the Bay Area scene at the time was that they had also been handed a bill for all the money the label had spent on them. I cannot verify whether that was true, but it was definitely the buzz around the scene, and it seemed to capture just how badly the music industry had treated the band.
They reunited for several shows in 2001 and 2002, and I was there for some of them. When Phil Demmel left to join Machine Head, however, I thought Vio-lence was finished for good.
Years later, word came out that Sean Killian was gravely ill and that a benefit show was being organized for him. I attended that show and saw Sean there. He did not look well. The event became both a celebration of Vio-lence and a gathering of the Bay Area thrash community, with musicians from across the scene coming together to support him. Honestly, I thought it was going to be Vio-lence’s final send-off because I was not optimistic that Sean would survive.
A little over a year later, I attended Vio-lence’s first reunion show following Sean’s liver transplant. Seeing him back onstage and seeing the band perform at a level I had not witnessed since the early 1990s was incredible. Four members of the classic lineup were there, with Ray Vegas taking the place of Robb Flynn.
I have seen Vio-lence many times since then, but that first reunion show is something I will never forget. I am incredibly glad that Sean recovered and is still kicking ass and making music.
3. Testament
Ron – I have been into Testament since they were still known as Legacy. I remember listening to their demo tape with friends when Zetro was still singing for them. They even played during lunch in the quad at my local high school.
My favorite Testament-related show, however, will always be Thrash of the Titans, the 2001 benefit held while Chuck Billy was being treated for cancer. The concert also raised money for Death’s Chuck Schuldiner, who was fighting cancer at the same time.
Many of the biggest Bay Area thrash bands reunited for the event. Several had broken up or become inactive after record labels and the music industry lost interest in thrash metal during the 1990s. Seeing all those bands together again was incredible: Bay Area thrash from 3 p.m. until 3 a.m., with Anthrax and other special guests thrown in.
Chuck Billy made a full recovery, and that show reinvigorated the Bay Area metal scene in a way that no other single event I can remember ever has.
2. Exodus
Ron – Exodus is widely credited with kickstarting the Bay Area thrash movement. Although they were late to the game in releasing their debut album, they predated Metallica and have a legitimate claim to being the Bay Area’s first thrash band.
I didn’t get into Exodus until Pleasures of the Flesh. By the time I started going to shows, they had already graduated from being a local band. To this day, I remain a huge Zetro fan and love that era of Exodus. I have seen the band many, many times, but I never had the opportunity to experience them during their early days in the small Bay Area clubs.
1. Metallica
Ron – No list of Bay Area metal bands could leave out Metallica, the biggest metal band in the world. While the band was originally formed in Los Angeles, Kirk Hammett and Cliff Burton were Bay Area through and through, and Metallica’s identity will always be closely tied to the Bay Area metal scene.
I wasn’t part of the scene during their earliest days, but I did get to see them perform several times with Cliff in and around the Bay Area, including their legendary Day on the Green appearance.
I also remember riding my bike over to Metallica’s rehearsal space while they were holding the bass auditions that eventually resulted in Jason Newsted joining the band. There was a semi-truck full of equipment parked outside.
Before leaving to tour behind …And Justice for All, they could be found hanging around the Bay Area and having fun. They played shows as Spastik Children and occasionally appeared at local clubs just to have a beer at the bar. At the Bay Area Thrash Awards at the Omni, where numerous bands played short sets and awards were presented between performances, Kirk Hammett even made a surprise appearance with Primus.
Go to Absolute Darkness‘ Bandcamp page, Facebook profile and Instagram account for more info on the band and their new album, Witness to a Dying World, which drops October 23.
For more authoritative lists of the best bands from non-U.S. countries, as picked by bands that hail from those places, check out:
• The 10 Best Irish Bands, According to Alt-Pop-Addicted Electronic Producer Phenom Vaticanjail (Exclusive)
• The 10 Best Chilean Bands, According to Guitarist for Santiago-Based Noisy Punk-Rock Squad Niño Nuclear (Exclusive)
• The 10 Best Venezuelan Heavy Bands, According to the Country’s Most Badass Garage-Rock Guitarist, Diego Ramirez
• The 10 Best Italian Metal Bands, According to the Country’s New Post-Metal Phenoms Orbita (Exclusive)
• The 10 Best Belgian Metal Bands of All Time, According to Gnarly Native Sons 30,000 Monkies (Exclusive)
• Edge of Sanity Frontman Dan Swanö Reveals 10 Swedish Bands That Made Their Way Into His Musical DNA
• The 10 Best Swedish Heavy Bands Ever, According to Native Sons Prime Creation
• The 10 Best Portuguese Heavy Bands Ever, According to Portugal’s Own Fernando Ribeiro of Moonspell
• Germany’s Top 10 Best Metal Bands Ever, Per the Country’s Native Death-Metal Sons Fleshcrawl
• The 10 Best Finnish Bands Ever, According to Natives the Feral Kids
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