UNDERDARK – In The Name Of Chaos (CD, 2010)

In the Name of Chaos is a brief album that expounds its theories of classical and technical composition on a pleasing death metal template, with particular skill in lead guitar. Stylistically, all songs remain heavily rooted in death metal, especially of the more technical variety played by Necrophagist and Nile, the melodic component of cuts like ‘Monument of Hypocrisy’ broadens the appeal of this album beyond mere brutality. The lead tone sounds especially light and shimmering, while the rest of the band have a good crunch of guitars and bass yet not quite the gut punch of truly savage death metal. Those shorter songs tend to have around half their length made up of lead guitar ideas and another half of technical rhythms and swiftly cut up riff ideas, any of which could be lurking around the next corner. Recommended for fans of Nile, Hour Of Penance, Origin, Decapitated, Melechesch.