Underground metal is a funny thing. These days, it feels less like a genre and more like a loose constellation of vaguely connected mini-scenes. Case in point: Our picks for Album Of The Week, both this week and last week, are underground metal albums, and yet they couldn't possibly sound more different from one another. Last week's pick, Martyrdöd's List, was a raging, fuzzed-out pummel, an absolute merciless sprint of a record. Martyrdöd, from Sweden, come from the crust world, and despite its generally high-fidelity levels and occasional blazing guitar solos, List sounds more like a hoary, gnarly punk album than anything. This week's pick is something else. Worm Ouroboros, from Oakland, have a band name that connotes ugliness and disgust, but their sound is pure, shimmering beauty. There's no grimy thrill to it; it's expansive and luxurious -- music for black silk curtains and candelabras and wind blowing across desolate moors. And yet both List and What Graceless Dawn, the new Worm Ouroboros album, qualify as underground metal. Seriously: Sometimes I think metal is less a kind of music and more a design sensibility.