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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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 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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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