Having formed back in 2017 I feel obliged to lump Molder into this new wave of Death Metal resurgence we’ve seen. Something which at one end has bands like Gatecreeper pushing the genre ever more mainstream and at the other end has bands like Hyperdontia flying the true Metal flag. Being a long time Death Metal fanatic I’m just happy to see a lot of new great bands. One such band who recently impressed me are today’s subjects, Illinois own Molder. Their 2022 album Engrossed In Decay gave me a lot of joy and I was excited to hear their latest effort Catastrophic Reconfiguration which comes to us through Prosthetic Records.

The title track opens proceedings with some signature Molder filth. Dirty sounding guitars, thundering bass and drums, simple but very effective purist Death Metal. As is often the case with a lot of modern Death Metal bands the Obituary worship is pretty amped up, not really a complaint though, Molder truly embodies the Death Metal spirit. Pulped follows in with more of the same stripped back, hard hitting quality Death Metal, I would argue that there is a slight Punk touch to Molder’s sound, just gritty, no nonsense gore. Much like the predecessor having a heavy Obituary tone, this next song leans into some early Autopsy territory. Wiping through the tracks with speed comes Overdue Burial, a snappy nasty banger full of Death Metal delight. Frothing gives off yet more of the Autopsy spew and I really appreciate it, utterly rotten in every aspect. Adding some epic Metal flare is Masked In Mold, some brilliant headbangable portions and crushing riffs, once more nothing overly innovative, just well executed.

Into the second half of the album we get into Busted Innards further well written gutsy Death Metal with a heap of old school passion. There’s honestly not too much more to talk about as Rapidly Exsanguinated and Corpse Copulation rattle by. Essentially if you like your Death Metal with zero frills then you’ll be sure to enjoy Molder, this album is a perfect example of not having to reinvent the wheel. That said though I wouldn’t term Molder as generic, their clear worship and appreciation of Death Metal carries them through with a familiar yet fresh sound. Brain Boil and Nothing Left To Ooze round things off nicely for an overall quality Death Metal exhibition.

To sum it up I can’t say it’s the most insane Death Metal album I’ve ever heard in my life but Catastrophic Reconfiguration gives me exactly what I want from Molder. There’s a lot to be said for just playing Metal the way it should be and I’d probably take this over a ton of innovation and unnecessary experimentation. Sure that works for some bands but Molder isn’t one of them, don’t miss out on this album and band, a short savage nugget of Death Metal brilliance.

(8/10 George Caley)

https://www.facebook.com/MolderIL

https://molderil.bandcamp.com/album/catastrophic-reconfiguration