Somehow, though, every song eventually leads to Myles Kennedy keening dramatically over guitar sturm und drang, and while that nicely showcase the band’s songwriting and instrumental skills, after a while it becomes predictable and monotonous.

By-the-numbers breakdowns, tired metalcore riffing, and cliched lyrics are still very much part of the group's formula. It's too bad since the band has plenty of energy and ambition. [Nov/Dec 2010, p.94]

A 12-song set that went through a couple of permutations but still bristles with industrial-strength angst.

With Shelter, Alcest have abandoned bracing storm bursts, leaving a too monotonous calm.

A prog-intensive album that often sounds closer to soggy Jethro Tull outtakes than anything in his band’s mighty back catalog.

Despite some high points, this is hardly the definitive live Springsteen album. [May/June 2001, p.116]

While the album will please the band's fans, it doesn't stand out from similar releases in the subgenre today. [Jul/Aug 2011, p.92]

Meandering and dirge-like, the eight songs here live up to the band's moniker, weaving slow and snaky through the album's 42 minutes and what we can only presume is a veritable wall of amplification. Tune in and nod out.

Pressure & Time can bog down in its own retro pretensions, but singer Jay Buchanan is an undeniable vocal force.

A 72-minute concept album that includes some of its freshest material yet, but also some of its dullest.

These ominous minor-key workouts routinely change direction on a dime, not unlike a tornado or a hurricane.

Too bad that, even at its best, this Atlas maps well-trodden ground.

Despite Chamberlain’s strong pipes and pedigree, Broken Compass lacks the umph and innovation to be something truly exceptional.

OWTH aren’t covering ground that Against Me! or the Bouncing Souls haven’t already tread in the past, but there’s a palpable passion in frontman Ryan Young’s voice that keeps these songs sounding inspired for the duration of the record.

The best odds and sods collected here are those on which they stray from relentless shouting.

For all of its ferocity and force, though, Scurrilous is a surprisingly pleasant listen, in part due to frontman Rody Walker's high-pitched melodic vocals which belie the aggressiveness of the blistering guitars. Recommended, definitely. Diverse and innovative, definitely not.

In resurrecting their original sound, Filter get caught up in the same monotonous industrial atmosphere that kept Short Bus from being an essential album. [Sep/Oct 2010, p.92]

While the sound may flirt with alt-rock and electronica, the underlying sensibility is prog like BTBAM, in its melodic complexity and lyrical depth. Mar/Apr 2011, p.92]

For all its polish and sonic approachability, this is no sell-out record. Rescue may go down easy, but at the album's core, it's still an appealingly bitter pill.

Like their spiritual and sonic forefathers in Khanate, Asunder, and Buried at Sea, their music is bleak, crushing, and decidedly off-kilter.

The Color Morale never strays too far from the tried-and-true tropes of their subgenre on full-length No. 3, but still manages to craft tunes that are passionate and memorable.

While this will probably please Bleeding Through's fans, sticking with the path most traveled doesn't result in a particularly memorable record.

While the formula may sound intriguing, lackluster songwriting makes much of the record sound repetitive and uninspired.

Interesting, but hardly the band that made Meantime. [Sep/Oct 2010, p.90]

An inconsistent record with flashes of brilliance, In Waves should keep diehard Trivium fans happy.

The tracks on Halo of Blood sound more like computerized vessels for showing off their considerable skills than songs played by actual human beings.

The bottom line: Emery may have done what they wanted, but that doesn't mean that listeners will want the result-at least, not all of it.

The Constant is best when going fast and loud, keeping your heart racing (and your mind off the subpar lyrics), but it loses momentum with cookie cutter ballad "holding On To You and a track, "Remember A Time," that oddly sounds more like Weezer than Warped Tour. [Mar/Apr 2010, p.92]

From the lumbering “Lungs” to doomy, dynamically intense epics such as “On Wretched Son,” “Swarming Funeral Mass,” and “See No Shelter Fevered Ones,” the relentless sturm and drang is not for the faith of heart, and there’s always a sneaking sense that Twilight is making this stuff up as it goes along.

Unfortunately, every song ends up sounding too similar, even as the band breaks, as always, from black metal's norms.

Too many songs build and build and never explode, and though Keenan has never sounded growlier, Parole never really breaks loose.

Overall, Max & Co. keep things tasty on Savages.

Nothing here grabs you as immediately as "Bring Me To Life" did. Still, the group's pummeling disco-grunge version of "Like A Prayer?" Totally awesome. [May/Jun 2010, p.100]

It’s considerably more difficult to listen to than ‘Aesthetica’--the vocals often sound like a skipping CD--and largely forsakes that album’s triumphal feel for grating noise mash-ups (“Follow” and “Follow II”), angular electro jams (“Quetzalcoatl”) and synthetic horns (“Fanfare”).

While her vocals alone are unlikely to gain Within Temptation too many new listeners, fans who have stuck with the band throughout their career will likely forgive The Unforgiving's occasional missteps.

While the new sound may alienate a few old fans, Reign of Terror is a solid album that should win over just as many new converts.

Having tasted success, it's not surprising that most of the vocal tracks on 7th Symphony are decidedly commercial. Almost to counter that, however, Apocalyptica's instrumental pieces are among their heaviest and most grandiose yet. [Sep/Oct 2010, p.90]

The new songs sound similar to those on the the band's last full length release, The Powerless Rise.... The remixes, meanwhile, aren't exactly noteworthy.

AFI fans will no doubt miss the guitar muscle, but adventurous listeners will appreciate the retro-synth theatrics.

Rather than pat themselves on the back for still being alive, the guys in Soundgarden went on a nostalgia trip, and honestly, it's for the best.

British Lion might surprise longtime Ed Heads in that it's more redolent of the sort of '80s hard-rock bands who dominated the radio waves when Maiden couldn't, like Dokken and even Whitesnake.

Unfortunately, the toidy humor isn't funny, and the introspective songs aren't that relevatory. [#3, p.105]

While spirited in their performance, this brutal quartet lack the dynamism and versatility of label-mates Dying Fetus.

Sometimes, Blood's industrial metal is the kind that got overdone a decade ago. Still, it's a mostly good set-and a cool comeback for Seinfeld.

Overall, though, most of these covers sound disappointingly similar to the originals.

While Lions roars with all of the classic rock bombast and Stones-y swagger we've come to expect from the Crowes, the album is sorely lacking in the magic that can only be achieved when the innately talented drive themselves to distraction in the pursuit of perfection. [May/June 2001, p.110]

While not terribly mindblowing, this EP is a quick and entertaining listen.