I must say that I'm rather cautious towards covers. Most times bands attempt to adapt a well known (classic) song to their own style and the result sounds so unfamiliar for those knowing the original version of it. Other times bands just perform faithfully the chosen track, so the listener wonders about the purpose of the project's existence as it shows a 99% resemblance to the original one.
Napalm Death is not a newcomer in the cover field as they've already released an EP (as the title itself martyrs) back in 1999. This time though, the band releases a full-length album, ultra filling with many musically different bands in it's ''target''. The most important and attractive element in this release, is that the band covers apart from some famous bands, many cult, underground but really important ones like Cryptic Slaughter, Hirax, Siege and others.
The musical touch of Napalm Death doesn't need to be described unless you're hailing from another intergalactic system. So do not expect any surprises in this release, as every song in it is delivered with the already aggressive-known style of the band. One way or another, the original versions are already high-powered so I don't really think that there was enough space for experimentation.
If I had to pick the most interesting moments of this release I would definitely mention Cryptic Slaughter's Lowlife, Devastation's Devastation, Siege's Conform, Attitude Adjustment's Dope Fiend and of course Hirax's Hate, Fear And Power. I have to confess that as a huge Napalm Death fan, I enjoyed all the songs in Leaders Not Followers Pt 2 but I think that the aforementioned ones will enthuse even the non-insiders with the band.
Fans should definitely check this out, besides those kinds of releases refer mostly to them. Anyone else that happens to know (and have heard before) any of the bands being covered could give it a try just in the name of curiosity.