An apparatus may include a composite soft underlayer and a perpendicular magnetic recording layer overlying the composite soft underlayer. The composite soft underlayer may include a growth template layer, a negative magnetic anisotropy layer overlying the growth template layer, and a magnetically soft layer overlying the negative magnetic anisotropy layer. In some embodiments, the negative magnetic anisotropy layer includes a plurality of grains, and substantially all the grains have negative magnetic anisotropy along an axis substantially perpendicular to a major plane of the composite soft underlayer. In some embodiments, the negative magnetic anisotropy layer includes a thickness of less than or equal to about 3 nm.