Various Artists - Underworld: Rise of the Lycans Soundtrack - Music & Performance - CD

After two installments of the vampires vs. werewolves horror movie franchise, Underworld and Underworld: Evolution, director Len Wiseman and his wife, star Kate Beckinsale, have bowed out, paving the way for the prequel Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, which teams returning Bill Nighy (who had his head sliced off in the first movie) and Michael Sheen with Rhona Mitra, standing in for Beckinsale as the series' resident black-sheathed hottie. This soundtrack album does not feature Paul Haslinger's score, but instead provides more than an hour's worth of rock, goth, and industrial tracks by a variety of artists including Alkaline Trio (whose "Over and Out" is a rare ballad), the Cure, and Perry Farrell. There are no deathless classics among them, but several are effective and in the mood of the film, notably William Control's "Deathclub," a catchy synth pop track; Combichrist's "Today We Are All Demons"; Drop Dead, Gorgeous' "Two Birds, One Stone" (with its chorus, "You'll sleep in hell"); and From First to Last's "Tick Tock Tomorrow" (with a hook that goes, "I'm just waiting for the future to swallow me whole"). ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide