Last month we announced our SignMeTo Roadrunner Records contest, in which we’re offering one unsigned band per month the opportunity to have a featured article on MetalSucks in conjunction with Roadrunner’s SignMeTo platform. With today’s “thank fucking god winter is almost over” arrival of March 1st, so also marks our first contest winner.

Last Vegas, NV four-piece Spun In Darkness describe themselves as “old school death metal,” but that’s only part of the picture; what makes Spun in Darkness unique is the way they blend said old school DM with slow, crushing doom that’ll make your bones rattle and your brain quake. It’s like these dudes consciously took the best parts of both genres and blended them into one seamless package, although I’m sure the genesis of the band’s sound was a lot more organic than that; the slow, funeral march pace of doom mixed with the demon spawn riffs and clear production aesthetic of death metal is a winning combination if you ask me. Even when Spun in Darkness speed things up a bit they’re not chugging along at your typical death metal gallop, and just when you start to think “maybe these guys are really just a slightly slow death metal band” they take the tempo down to a near crawl for a monolithic Sabbath-inspired break. Check out “Black Castle” at their SignMeTo page; it’s my favorite of the bunch.

Want to enter your band for next month’s competition? It’s easy; just sign your band up for a profile at SignMeTo and tag the profile with “metalsucks.” Read the instructions here.

-VN