Cancelled Earth - Rudiger (Self-released)
Here's a monstrous self-released EP from a relatively unknown Aussie band that play an urban and industrialized form of death metal that clasps the urgent bombast of grind in one claw and the queasy roil of sludge in the other. Although it's brief, this seethes with a paranoid violence that feels drug-damaged, downtrodden, and wracked with existential horror. The guitarwork is garish and messy, like haphazardly scrawled graffiti on the grimy walls of a needle-strewn back alley. There's groove here, but it's in the form of a viscous, drain-circling churn that swallows the lead guitar like a tsunami. These unorthodox riffs are supported by semi-automatic salvos of jackhammer electronic drums and lurid, savage vocals carefully pitch-shifted to add an extra layer of hirsute frenzy.
These aren't long songs, and they're littered with garbled samples, but there's a dreary, post-apocalyptic vibe shrouding them that distinguishes this from the typical crypt-stalking DM aesthetic, and bring to mind the the sense of urban decay threading bands like Hissing, Aeviterne, and Artificial Brain.