Back in September 2021, RUDE's third release, "Outer Reaches", the follow-up to their sophomore full-length, "Remnants", plagued our ears with its traditional and brutal take on OSDM. This Bay area-based quartet pique interest with their potent and uncompromising death metal stylistic in the vein of an amalgamation of PESTLIENCE, MORBID ANGEL and DEATH. The forefathers of death metal are, rightly so, cited as influence to many a contemporary, especially RUDE, and what a solid altar to forge a cold slab of death metal on!

The chesty VAN DRUNEN-esque vocals are inescapable and pile into this potent creation, back-boning a robust EP of six seismic cuts that carry visceral appeal, with some neck-wrecking moments amongst the band's organic maturation in sound since their sophomore release four-years' ago. Comparably, the latest release, "Outer Reaches", injects a few more grooves and carries an anvil-heavy weight behind its rhythm section and riffs. There's plenty to get your lugs around, with a delicious split of PESTILENCE driven vocal output in a few of the cuts, and a MORBID ANGEL thrashy death instrumental appeal in others.

The EP cranks open with the heady discord of "Chase (Discarded)", a mighty fine intro to RUDE's release and a piece that burns slowly to catapult to insidious measure with Yusuf's throaty tones carrying this bestial creation. Likewise, the title-track steadily burns with its malicious embers, to then build into full-blown combustion. The juggernaut cut "Astral Cursed Spawn" tears you a new one with the brutish vocals, gnarly temporal switches and aggressive riffs; the "Leprosy" era DEATH flavour pulls through very nicely indeed, with flashes of "Pull the Plug" almost emanating at times. This same DEATH feel drip feeds into "Calamity from the Sky", punching an infectious groove through the guitar and a prominent bass line that gets you by the short and curlies. It's weighty, it's muscular and it's basically death metal on steroids.

Nearing the end of this fine hunk of filth is "Adrift", percussive, gnarly and as malevolent as they come with a minor scaling riff that sinks its musical cloven hooves into you deep. Whilst the pulverising pounding of "Omega" lends itself to being a mighty stomper to bookend "Outer Reaches", with a collectively catastrophic output that malevolently earworms itself deep to levels of cranial implosion, and simultaneously eats away at you like a fatal dose of necrotising fasciitis. What's not to like about this release? Absolutely bloody nothing. Authentic, unpolished production enhances the OSDM appeal, the surly vocals root themselves to abyssal depth and the gargantuan cuts boil flesh from bone from start to finish.

If you've been in solitary in outer-space, and have somehow missed this sterling release, I implore you to rectify that immediately. "Outer Reaches" is well worth adding to your underground DM collection.