Once a month we pick a band from Roadrunner’s SignMeTo platform that’s tagged their profile with “MetalSucks” to be featured on this here weblog. Have a listen to past months’ featured bands here. And so, without further ado, meet Mindshift, the June featurees…

Many of this site’s readers will probably write off Sweden’s Mindshift due to the lack of growled/screamed vocals, but that’s kinda what I like about ‘em; they’re clearly not concerned with fitting into any prescribed mold or being perceived a certain way by the metal scene at large. Their music is certainly metal, at least to some degree, though; heavy guitars and drums, challenging musicianship, progressive arrangements and scorching, expertly crafted guitar solos. To top it off they’ve also got good songs, so rare in this game, and their vocalist is a real winner in a sea of generic, unoriginal screamers. These guys remind me a whole lot of Iris Divine, who we’ve featured on MetalSucks before. Check them out if you have an open mind for good music that doesn’t necessarily fit into what you think of as “metal.” The second song, “My Infamy,” is in my opinion the better of the two posted tracks.

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In March 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. Check out March’s featured band Spun in Darkness and April’s featured band Meadows End.

Pompano Beach, FL’s Written in Blood bare more than just a namesake similarity to recent Roadrunner signees Baptized in Blood; their brand of metal, like that of the latter, pays a hefty tribute to the ’80s with ballsy thrash riffs and twin-guitar leads around every corner. Where Baptized lean more Motley, Written lean more Metallica, but Written add a slight metalcore bent that serves their choice to stick with clean vocals quite well, ala Mutiny Within. Though Written in Blood don’t have the slam dunk songs or technical prowess of Mutiny Within, the three songs on their SignMeTo page show that they’re headed in the right direction; these Floridians have boatloads of potential.

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In March 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. Check out March’s featured band Spun in Darkness. Now it’s April… it’s nice out, it’s baseball season, and hey! time for another SignMeTo Pick of the Month.

The name Meadows End might ring a bell because I featured them in an Unsigned and Unholy column back in February. My assessment at that time was that they were “epicly dark like Insomnium, Omnium Gatherum, Mar De Grises, Swallow the Sun, Daylight Dies, etc” but that they veered a little close to those bands’ patented styles to warrant too much attention. But then a funny thing happened; whilst perusing SignMeTo for this month’s pick, I clicked on Meadows End’s profile without realizing I’d already heard their music… and I instantly recognized the first song. I’ve checked out bands multiple times without knowing it until someone points it out; this even happens with signed bands. But great songs have a way of transcending all else, and the Swedes in Meadows End are most certainly great songwriters. I’ll stick to my guns that these guys aren’t reinventing the melo-doom wheel, but they’ve got hooks for days, and those hooks don’t compromise the band’s heaviness. And I still really dig the way these guys utilize keyboard parts. Check out three songs here.

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.

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.

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Roughly a year ago Roadrunner Records launched a beta of SignMeTo, a digital platform that allows bands to create artist profiles with streaming music, photos, videos, tour dates, a bio and all that jazz, with the added allure of the promise that actual living, breathing A&R reps for Roadrunner peruse the site regularly for the best in unsigned talent. Since then the Roadrunner tech team has made a number of modifications to the site to roll it out into the big time, and it’s bigger and better than ever.

Why am I telling you this now? In our ongoing quest to find the best unsigned metal talent the world has to offer (Exhibit A: our Unsigned and Unholy column), MetalSucks has teamed up with SignMeTo to run a contest. Once a month, I’ll be picking my favorite unsigned band from SignMeTo and writing up an article about them here on MetalSucks. That lucky chosen band will also be featured on the main page of RoadrunnerRecords.com (!) and receive a MetalSucks badge on their SignMeTo profile.

Here’s how to enter:

Click to read more…