Spellcheck nemesis Molis Sepulcrum, seem to be keeping a low profile on the old socials, almost as if they are either in a witness protection scheme having given up the goods and turned state against the Hungarian Mafia, or it’s a deliberate ploy that follows a low key, old school approach to the promotion of themselves as a band and this, their first recorded output. In fact, details are so scant as to the background on these Hungarians, you’d swear they didn’t want anyone to know they even existed. Which is a shame really, because if I were them, I’d be singing (grunting) about this album from the rooftops.
But before I get ahead of myself and wheel out my desert trolley, ladened with sweet, creamy portions of hyperbole toped effusions, let’s take a whistle stop tour into the sticky marrow and guts of Molis Sepulcrum. Formed, I am guessing, as a side band as a distraction from the three piece’s day jobs in bands such as Gravecrusher and Morbid Carnage, this seems to be a labour of love for the hysterically named (hoping these are not unfortunate examples of nominative determinism) named Disembowler (vocals/bass), Alkoholizer (guitar) and on drums Winehammer. So far, so bad, as if the band have taken the death metal guidebook (if there is such a thing) and decided to toss that out and went ahead and created their own guide called, ‘A Hysterical, Overblown and on the Nose Guide to death metal in 2021’. But whilst my passive aggressive, piss-taking sphincter is twitching like a diabetic in a Mars Bar factory, if you can look beyond the cartoonish window dressing (I’ll also include the wonderfully over the top artwork in this description, which comes replete with genre staples of zombie/ghost/skeletons/graves etc.) lying just beneath the surface, Left For Worms, is a splendid glance at early 1990’s death metal from the Cannibal Corpse school of thought that manages to give itself a 2021 makeover.
This is a ballsy, collection of songs and although it does baste itself in some of the more obvious genre tropes of early 90’s death metal, it extrapolates just enough modernity from the whistle stop tour that this mini 6 track album represents that it leaves the listener wanting more. Given my initial impression, I am as shocked as you may be as opener ‘The Prey’ crashes through the door like a sheep after a twelve-hour cocaine binge. It really packs a punch, all over blown Boss HM-2 wedges of tempo flexing griminess. Of course, this is going to be compared with Entombed, given how the majority of this album drenches itself in Swedeath/Boss HM-2 gloopy gasoline and sets itself aflame. And it does of course revel in those early Entombed genre touchpoints with grunted/growled vocals from the Chris Barnes school of filth (before his voice was fucked) replete with galloping guitar solos, squalling and squelching their way through the dense, crunchy bedrock of riffs.
‘The First Insection’ slows things down a tad, all freewheeling double bass drums, that slowly builds on a swingy, crunchy guitar riff, before segueing into more familiar sped up death metal territory that you can see is also influenced (as the press release says) by (maybe) Dismember, but also the speedier, faster moments of early Obituary (not that Obituary rarely get above walking pace mind). But there is also a freshness here that recalls, some of the more aggressive riffs and tabulates of the Powerviolence scene characterised by say Nails with aspects of Trap Them and Full of Hell. If you like this genre of music, then you’ll find much to enjoy here on what represents an assured and highly competent debut album that manages to bridge the gap between hero worship and genuflection to the altar of early 90’s death metal to more modern and progressive ideas from today’s extreme metal scene.
(8/10 Nick Griffiths)
Leave a Reply