Sacra-METAL has since grown to include a website<\/a> where people can buy merch, the creation of Sacra-Metal Records in 2021 that has released several splits (short form vinyl releases that feature two bands) and a compilation double album on vinyl called \u201cSacra-Metal Massacre\u201d in 2025 featuring 21 bands from the area including Dunn\u2019s band Lysol Toast; the album was originally supposed to be a single album but there was more interest than expected.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I was like, \u2018Man, let\u2019s just put a comp[ilation] together and get everyone on it,\u2019\u201d Dunn said. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to be the guy who called 20 bands and said \u2018You\u2019re not good enough.\u2019 It\u2019s art.\u201d<\/p>\n Throughout Sacra-METAL\u2019s growth, Dunn\u2019s mission has remained the same; to bring the camaraderie he experienced in the Reno scene to the bands and venues in Sacramento. Sacra-METAL does this by encouraging everyone from fans to performers and venues to support one another.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re all putting out art. We\u2019re all putting out music. The venues are all supporting us by letting us play there. The fans are supporting us by showing up. Let\u2019s try to get some kind of a community,\u201d Dunn said.<\/p>\n That community-centered mission is what brought producer and mixing engineer Tom Jimenez into the fold.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jimenez has been part of the Sacramento metal scene since the 1980s, and now runs Audio Edge Recording after stepping away from music for a few years and then returning in the late 2000s. He says activity in the scene has fluctuated but there has been a noticeable increase in younger people getting involved as both fans and artists over the past few years, often resulting in shows where the audience and performers span several generations of metalheads. Jimenez believes Sacra-METAL is largely responsible for that resurgence.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cRight now I\u2019m seeing so many bands, and so many younger bands coming up, not just the guys from my generation, but, you know, teenagers playing the same type of music we were playing and enjoying back then,\u201d Jimenez said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jimenez met Dunn through the Facebook group and at local shows. Later, he would start helping Dunn with the logistics for organizing new vinyl releases. He has also produced and engineered several of the songs on the \u201cSacra-Metal Massacre\u201d release, along with music on previously released splits.\u00a0<\/p>\n One of the first Sacra-METAL splits featured Unprovoked \u2014 and Blessed Curse \u2014 who had never been part of a split or compilation album before meeting Dunn in 2021; Justin Woods, drummer of Unprovoked, compared splits and compilation albums to old-school tape trading culture where people would share their favorite bands with each other on cassettes, often leading to the discovery of new favorites from other cities and states.\u00a0<\/p>\n Unprovoked guitarist Kevin Manzanares also credits Dunn with constantly promoting local bands and shows whether or not they are associated with Sacra-METAL, as well as kickstarting live metal performances after the COVID pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe went from playing a lot of shows to nothing real quick,\u201d Manzanares said. \u201cAnd then Kevin [Dunn] was kind of the first on the list to get stuff together right after COVID when shows started opening up again.\u201d<\/p>\n Sacramento still has room to grow and improve. Both Dunn and Jimenez say local bands could use support from more venues who are willing to give veteran and new bands space to perform. But they are both optimistic about the future of the scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n There is clearly demand for the kind of work that Sacra-METAL does. The \u201cSacra-Metal Massacre\u201d release show at Louie\u2019s Cocktail Lounge in November of 2025 resulted in the sale of around 200 albums in one day.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Sacra-METAL model is unique. In order for it to work, Dunn must build local relationships with artists and venues, often trading services: A sound person who believes in the project might donate their time at a release show; artists might offer design services just to be part of the movement; Jimenez might help a band get a song ready for pressing and Dunn will pay it all back back by providing a space to record drums or lending live sound equipment to bands wanting to organize DIY shows.\u00a0<\/p>\n Any revenue made through record or merch sales goes into the next release or event. Sacra-METAL is a passion project and captures the collaborative nature of music and art in Sacramento.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just trade \u2014 barter. It\u2019s what everybody does around here,\u201d Dunn said. \u201cWhen someone else succeeds, I think we all succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n This story is part of the Solving Sacramento <\/a>journalism collaborative. This story was funded by the City of Sacramento\u2019s Arts and Creative Economy Journalism Grant to Solving Sacramento<\/a>. Following our journalism code of ethics, the city had no editorial influence over this story. Our partners include Capital Public Radio, Hmong Daily News, Russian America Media, Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento News & Review and Sacramento Observer. Sign up for our \u201cSac Art Pulse\u201d newsletter here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"About 10 years ago, Kevin Dunn moved from Reno to Sacramento and felt that the local metal scene…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289726,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[18243,330,121,123,122],"class_list":["post-289725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-heavy-metal","tag-music","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289725\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SolvingSac_SacraMetal_02-1024x683.jpg\")
Tom Jimenez sets up microphones for a drum tracking session with Sacramento band Nelson Lane at Pus Cavern, a recording studio in North Sacramento. (Photo by Cristian Gonzalez)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/SolvingSac_SacraMetal_03-1024x683.jpg\")
Unprovoked at The Boardwalk in Orangevale before their show with Lysol Toast, Emerther and Parabellum on Saturday, April 11. (Photo by Cristian Gonzalez)<\/p>\n