Code Orange's Pittsburgh Pedigree, Hydra Head's Legacy, and Hardcore's Habit of Taking Care of Its Own
Some weeks the national metal wire reads like it was written with Pennsylvania in mind, and this is one of them. Between a Pittsburgh-born metalcore outfit spinning off a new project, a label history book that touches directly on the DNA of our state's heaviest underground, and a hardcore community rallying around one of its own, there's a lot here that hits close to home. Let's get into it.
Pittsburgh's Code Orange Family Tree Keeps Growing
If you needed proof that Pennsylvania's heavy music scene is still one of the most restless and prolific in the country, look no further than NOWHERE2RUN, the side project featuring three members of Pittsburgh's own Code Orange. The band just dropped a music video for "Freaksh*t" alongside their new EP, BLOODRAVE II, and it's exactly the kind of chaotic, genre-smashing energy that's defined Code Orange's orbit for over a decade. Whether you first found Code Orange through their Grammy-nominated metalcore or through the industrial detours they've taken since, NOWHERE2RUN is a reminder that Pittsburgh's influence on heavy music extends well beyond one band's main discography. It's worth remembering that Pennsylvania's reputation as an incubator for aggressive, boundary-pushing metal didn't happen by accident — it's built on exactly this kind of restless side-hustle energy, the same spirit that keeps bands like Lehigh Valley mathcore outfit 156/Silence and Pennsylvania metalcore act Artica pushing their own sounds into weirder corners.
Hydra Head's Ghost Still Haunts Pennsylvania's Underground
Decibel Books announced this week that it will publish Deconstructing Towers: The Story of Hydra Head Records in December, chronicling the influential label that gave us Converge, Isis, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Cave In, and Botch, among many others. For anyone who came up on the post-metal and sludge end of the underground in the 2000s, Hydra Head wasn't just a label — it was a blueprint for how heavy, atmospheric, and genuinely uncompromising music could find an audience outside of the major-label machine. That blueprint is still being followed right here in Pennsylvania. Our state's sludge metal scene owes more than a little to the dense, riff-forward architecture that Hydra Head bands perfected, and you can hear echoes of it in the work of Pennsylvania sludge metal band Trunk, whose crushing, slow-building songwriting feels like a direct descendant of that era. Doom and sludge acts like Pennsylvania doom/sludge outfit Mule Thrower and Pennsylvania doom and stoner metal band Sluglord are also part of that lineage, proving the Hydra Head aesthetic never really left — it just found new zip codes. If you've never dug into the label's catalog, this book sounds like a worthwhile excuse, and a good reminder of how much of today's Pennsylvania metal scene was shaped by labels that prioritized vision over volume.
Hardcore Takes Care of Its Own
Not every piece of news this week is about riffs and release dates. Richard Cipriano, former bassist of Sick Of It All, is currently battling pancreatic cancer, and a fundraising effort is underway to help support him, with Revelation Records also offering a benefit shirt. It's a gut punch, but it's also a reminder of something hardcore and metal communities have always done well: show up for their own when it matters most. Pennsylvania's hardcore and crust-punk scene has never been shy about rallying around its people, and bands like Pennsylvania crust punk and hardcore band R.A.M.B.O. exist within that same lineage of DIY solidarity — the kind of ethos that built East Coast hardcore in the first place. If you're in a position to kick in a few dollars or grab the Revelation shirt, consider doing so. This is the stuff that holds scenes together long after the bands themselves have come and gone.
Holiday Brutality: A Very Filthy Christmas Comes to Town
On a lighter note, Filth, Narcotic Wasteland, and Killcrown have announced the "A Very Filthy Christmas Tour," proving once again that extreme metal and holiday cheer are not mutually exclusive. There's something almost quaint about a death metal and grindcore package tour timed to the holidays — a reminder that no matter how brutal the music gets, the touring circuit still runs on the same calendar as everyone else's family gatherings and mall Santas. For Pennsylvania grind and death metal fans wondering if the tour will swing through the state, it's worth keeping an eye on routing announcements; this is exactly the kind of bill that pairs well with local openers. Our own Pennsylvania death metal and grindcore band Hashgrinder would be right at home on a bill like this, and it's a good excuse to check upcoming shows around the state as more holiday-season gigs get added to local calendars.
What's In a Name? Heavy Metal's Long Memory and Pennsylvania's NWOTHM Revival
In a smaller but genuinely interesting story, Sweet guitarist Andy Scott set the record straight this week on whether the glam rock institution should be called "The Sweet" or just "Sweet" — a seemingly trivial distinction that actually says a lot about how bands wrestle with identity and legacy across decades. It's a very heavy metal problem, honestly. Ask any NWOBHM band from the late '70s how many times their name has been debated, misspelled, or mythologized, and you'll get a long answer. That same lineage — twin-guitar harmonies, leather-and-denim pageantry, riffs built for raised fists — is alive and well in Pennsylvania's new wave of traditional heavy metal, or NWOTHM, scene. Acts like Pennsylvania heavy metal band Sumerlands and Pennsylvania NWOBHM and speed metal act Genghis Khan are proof that the classic metal torch hasn't dimmed one bit; they're writing and performing in a style that pays direct homage to the Sweet/Priest/Maiden era while still sounding unmistakably current. Add Pennsylvania heavy and progressive metal band Timeless Haunt and Pennsylvania heavy metal band HarrytheHat to that list, and you've got a genuine pocket of new metal bands in 2026 carrying the traditional metal flag forward without a hint of irony. This is one of the most underrated corners of the Pennsylvania metal scene right now, and it deserves more attention than it typically gets from the riff-and-blast-beat crowd.
Quick Hits From the Wire
A few other items worth flagging for anyone keeping tabs on the national conversation: Ignite have debuted two new tracks, "Still Wide Awake" and "Guilty Wounds," from their forthcoming album of the same name, giving melodic hardcore fans something to look forward to. Former Fear Factory vocalist Burton C. Bell has announced a December Canadian tour, continuing his post-Fear Factory run with renewed momentum. Black Veil Brides frontman Andy Biersack spoke glowingly about the reception to the band's seventh album, Vindicate, calling it one of the most well-received records of their career. And Jonny Santos is bringing Silent Civilian, his post-Spineshank project, back out for a 20th anniversary tour celebrating Rebirth of the Temple — a welcome reminder that nu-metal's second generation still has plenty of fuel left in the tank.
Meanwhile, Tom Morello weighed in on whether metal bands should be more political in their messaging, a conversation that never really goes away in this genre and probably shouldn't. Pennsylvania's own scene has never been short on bands willing to write with purpose, and that conversation is worth having locally too — not as a trend, but as part of what makes heavy music mean something beyond the riff.
Keep the Scene Moving
Between Pittsburgh's metalcore innovators, the Hydra Head lineage still coursing through our sludge and doom bands, and a traditional metal underground finally getting its due, Pennsylvania's scene remains one of the most diverse heavy music ecosystems in the country. If your band has news, a release, or a show worth covering, don't wait for us to find you — submit your band and help us keep building the most complete picture of the best metal bands this state has to offer.