Although the editors of MetalSucks get a vote in he Scion No Label Needed Contest, the staff of MetalSucks, alas, does not. Thus, over the course of the next few days, each MetalSucks writer will post an endorsement for his favorite finalist for the contest. You can check out all the finalists, and vote for your personal favorite, here.

Sure, the requisite 80s thrash, jagged-logo-concept-thing might not sell Hammerlord’s 2008 self-titled debut alone, but their music should. And while these cats might have spent time with the likes of The Esoteric and The Blinding Light, among others, the band’s moniker comes from drummer Adam Mitchell’s handle during his time with The Esoteric. Plus, Scott Hull found it metal enough to man the knobs for the debut, so they must have been doing something right, right?

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Armour is 80s metal, man. Get used to it right now, before you check them out. But FUCK if it isn’t AWESOME at the same time. The song titles, the solos, the cover art – EVERYTHING is there on the Finns’ self-titled album, and it’s all really, really AWESOME. Well… the lyrics are kind of stupid, but who needs lyrics when you’ve got riffs and fist-pumping anthems, anyway?

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Deep into a storied career that took him from Cannibal Corpse to Six Feet Under to Torture Killer and back again, everybody knows what to expect out of a new effort from the perpetually blazed Chris Barnes and Six Feet Under. If you don’t know what’s in store from this band after fifteen years, then you should probably turn in your metalhead degree to Vince and Axl. The dudes’ third edition of the Graveyard Classics collection is one of those strange things that’s both familiar, awesome, and kind of ridiculous. Pure curiousity pointed this writer to a copy of the record, and it’s oddly intriguing – the kind of intriguing that’s caused by getting blasted and hearing a sweet (but in reality, not really that rad) cover band rip their version of a Deep Purple song at the bar down the street.

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Black Breath – TBD (Southern Lord/Hot Mass)

The band released the 12″ debut EP, Razor To Oblivion, on their own awhile back, but Southern Lord deftly scooped up the crusty hardcore/metal quintet and re-released Razor on CD with news that the debut full-length would hit streets early in 2010. If this thing is soaked in beer, angst, and riffs as much as the four-track debut was, you might be able to put away those Municipal Waste records and toss in Black Breath at that kegger.

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Brainstorm’s Memorial Roots, out now in North America following its European release a few months ago, is more of what made the band’s last full-length, 2008′s Downburst, so damn good – in fact, this album is perhaps even more diversified in its sound and scope. Right out of the gate, the chunky riffing of “Forsake What I Believe” is complimented by vocalist Andy B. Franck’s powerful, wide-ranging vocal delivery that tends to stay in lower registers than most contemporary European power metal. “Shiver” and “Cross The Line,” well, cross the line into speed metal territory, showcasing the blitzkrieg diversity that makes Brainstorm such a consistently great band: catchy riffs, catchier choruses, memorable lead work that steers clear of wankery, the ability to write slow, fast, and mid-paced songs… and everything in between. In fact, “The Final Stages Of Decay” is classic, anthmetic Brainstorm-esque power metal; it darts between tempos and structure enough in six minutes to almost call it proggy.

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1. Megadeth – Endgame (Roadrunner)

Two-and-a-half minutes of guitar shredding (a throwback to 1988′s So Far, So Good… So What!?) is a goddamn great way to start a record. Follow it up with a slew of shredding songs and you’ve got a recipe for the year’s most spun record. Full disclosure: I’m a Megadeth fanboy that still owns Risk. And even listens to it from time to time. But this is easily Deth’s best record since Countdown or Rust In Peace.

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For a prolific band (they’ve released five albums since their inception in 2000, three in as many years since 2006), Swallow The Sun have surely not been one to disappoint. Reliably bottling the gloomy atmosphere of Finland into equally gloomy metal, their latest Spinefarm release New Moon is a bona fide contender for this guy’s year end list.

MetalSucks recently caught up with Swallow The Sun guitarist/founder Juha Raivio to cover all the ground between the band’s two previous (and fantastic) releases and New Moon, a welcome addition to Swallow The Sun’s already impressive discography.

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In a time when being “heavy” in the world of metal all too often relies on generic chug or the most guttural vocals spewed forth, it’s always reassuring when a band can actually sing and still be “heavy.” And it’s even more reassuring when that band is Katatonia – because at this point in the game, you know what you’re going to get: an awesome record that relies more on feeling and flavor than overt technicality or balls-to-the-wall brutality.

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Los Angeles psychedelic-doom drivers Ancestors are already back with another new album after last year’s acclaimed two track debut Neptune With Fire, and this time around they’re  arguably even more ambitious. On the eight track Of Sound Mind, the band expands their scope and continues their doom-laden trip down nostalgia lane, with plenty of prog rock inspirations. And lots of guitars.

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Skeletonwitch has been a welcome anomaly these past few years. Amidst a resurgence of thrash and 80s throwback nostalgia, the band managed to stand head and shoulders above most emerging, like-minded acts, no doubt many thanks to their inclusion of equal parts thrash, N.W.O.B.H.M. melody, black metal vocals and Nordic nods in the quintet’s riffing and tempos. Breathing the Fire, their new Prosthetic Records release, further codifies these styles and influences, and confirms The ‘Witch’s music as both original and refreshing.

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Skinlab… in 2009? Some fifteen years after the band emerged from the Bay Area thrash scene – mostly thanks to jocking from Machine Head’s Robb Flynn when both bands were Bay Area up-and-comers – Skinlab is back with The Scars Between Us… for better or worse. The band’s fourth full-length release and seventh overall (including an EP, a double-disc album containing alternate and live versions of songs, and a full-on live album), The Scars Between Us is Skinlab’s comeback album of sorts – and first for new label Stand And Deliver Records. The question is: can they resurrect a career after seemingly treading water, like Machine Head did a few years back after the one-two punch of nu-metal disasters The Burning Red and Supercharger before returning to the metal press’ pages of high praise?

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Recording the first album without a previous vocalist is usually a curse on a band’s sound, cred, and whatever dork-speak you want to talk about the guys that spout, “Well, their first X number of records where good at least” (where X equals how awesome you are at liking metal, hardcore, and the heavier side of the musical spectrum), right? With co-vocalist Jamie Hooper sidelined by recurring throat problems and now out of the picture, high-pitcher Cam Pipes is the sole vocalist this time around (aside from guitarist Justin Hagberg’s backup growls). That results in lending 3 Inches of Blood an even more traditional sound on Here Waits Thy Doom, the band’s Century Media debut after a brief few years on Roadrunner. The group no longer has any original members… but their heart (and metal) is still in the right place.

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At this point in time, unless you’ve lived in a cave for the past few years, you know that Municipal Waste’s previous three albums (and an EP) have been steeped in thrash, beer, and partying… in no particular order. In that brief time, Municipal Waste’s impending retro-thrash throwback almost single-handedly inspired a plethora of seventeen year-old kids to buy Reeboks and shamelessly – and unfortunately – unintelligently “borrow” Kreator, Exodus, and D.R.I. riffs coupled with an emphasis on party-centric lyrics and sharp, speedy riffs.

To The Waste’s credit, though, they’re one of the few bands that manages to bring something new to the table on a consistent basis. Over the course of the band’s brief history, Municipal Waste has shown evolution and gradual, albeit slight, updates and innovations to their sound, culminating in Massive Aggressive, which – as cheesy and clichéd as it is dub it this – is probably the band’s most mature offering to date.

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