Although the editors of MetalSucks get a vote in the 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.

I like Iris Divine less because of the music they’re writing right now — which on its own is really fucking good, yes — but more because of the music they can and will write given the opportunity. Iris Divine are a band with an immense amount of raw musical and songwriting talent, and given the proper resources, attention and room to develop, this band can grow into something truly special and unique that transcends anything we know today. Think a career arc like genre-busting bands such as Between the Buried and Me, Tool or Radiohead. Too often in the A&R process these days the concept of artist development is pushed aside in favor of what’s trendy and ready to go right now – but Iris Divine are the kind of band that two or three albums down the road are going to be leaps and bounds better than any of today’s scene bands can ever be.

Vote for Iris Divine because you believe in pushing our genre forward instead of rewarding the status quo.

Listen to more ID tunes on MySpace.

-DG

Devin Townsend has been crawling up the hill to public acceptance in a desperate and obvious manner since his dubious introduction to public conciousness on the awkward and critically ill recieved Sex And Religion by Steve Vai.

The level of insecurity laid bare by the incessant regurgitation of prior ideas and themes, increasingly more dilluted, has resulted in a four record “project” called the “dtp” (not to be confused with one of the many other rapidly cycling identities bestowed on the public with equal faux grandeur and self important themes.) The implication that we should all care now crests in the judgmental and self righteous Addicted, which seems to imply that his “newfound sobriety” is the answer to all the world’s ills, and that we should all follow suit, set to a antiquated, late 90′s “White Zombie-esque” dance metal vibe.

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