Underlord

Underlord's Rise of the Ancient Kings is a brief journey into "pure Canadian black death metal," complete with corpse paint, spikes and leather. As evil-sounding as their names - Hellfiend, Azag-Thoth and Lupus Void, along with guest keyboardist/producer Victor Vulgar - Underlord's songs are drenched in devilish mythology and just might have been recorded in a cold dark cave or have risen out of some frozen rocky pit. There's nothing slick about Rise of the Ancient Kings, no symphonic grandeur. It's just dirty, buzzy, raw and oh-so-true Canadian black metal inspired by classics like Venom and Hellhammer. Unfortunately, the album's rather easily forgettable, but it's still a fairly satisfying temporary fix of buzzy guitars, guttural growls and some nice healthy evil.