Obsessed with the enduring stench of ancient carrion enough to go on picking dusty flesh and rags from petrified skeletons, the gnarled afterbirth of death metal beyond the 80’s floats naturally from the shredded fingertips into the saw-toothed grin(s) of Shorewood, Illinois-borne ‘old school’ death metal inspired quartet MOLDER who’ve iterated with class here on their third full-length album. ‘Catastrophic Reconfiguration‘ wastes no time churning up barking freakouts and dive-bombing leads in support of their admirably energetic craft, a sound which stands out from the crowd in that it offers pure and ugly death metal with great confidence for the entertainment value of the foil in hand. In conjuring another quick burning mid-gut loaded chunk of thrashing and spastic death it feels like these folks’d found their ideal balance on the album prior and now they’re working from that comfortably high standard here, focusing on songs that haul through their hook (or maniac riff) fast, catch the right rot-thrashed vibe, and carry an excellent sense of engagement throughout the whole of the listening experience.

Molder formed back in 2017 under a fairly different configuration and got to work on a series of demo tapes, rehearsals, and live recordings amounting to about ~five formative releases in 2018 the most notable for my own taste being the ‘An Act of Revenge‘ demo tape circa 2018, which’d been picked up by Unspeakable Axe and Headsplit. When I’d reviewed said tape the gist of it was the band’d worked up a rotten grinding and thrashing form of 80’s United States death metal much in the style of Autopsy and Master but the results of their work felt tentative in the sense that it’d sounded like garage-built chunk and hadn’t yet found its knack. At some point the market for ‘old school’ death metal merch outpaced the development of talent and while these guys seemed like legit fans they weren’t ready for a full-length right away. They hit the road, cranked out another demo, and took another year to work on what’d ultimately be their debut LP (‘Vanished Cadavers‘, 2020) which’d delivered upon a simple but energetic, freaked-out death metal sound implied by their walk-up but with a sometimes kinda classic grinding whip when it came time to change things up. Heavy riffs, reasonable variety, and a Chris Reifert inspired approach to vocals made for a solid introduction to a band that frankly hadn’t yet stood out in an overcrowded space from my point of view.

If we can consider ‘Vanished Cadavers‘ the complete lap taken through Molder‘s formative years the two albums they’ve produced beyond that point have aimed for something decidedly more song-oriented in the sense that they’re after catchier thrashing riffs, fast-action punkish rhythms and an overall sound which avoids the trendy hip-hop beats and pit-level hardcore riffs so many crew have driven into the ground of late. Still there was a distinct “new old school” death metal feeling served on their debut for Prosthetic. ‘Engrossed in Decay‘ (2022) felt like they’d delivered on the ‘Severed Survival‘ core with a sorta slobbery Van Drunen-esque vocal. It was a somewhat underrated buzzer with solid groove bucked riffcraft and an overall estranged early days death metal froth to its gore. The level of detail paid to their rhythms, the drum sound, and the variety that’d spilled over into most of those songs made a good enough argument for the potential hinted at on the previous album but I’m not sure it’d left me feeling like I was ready to fall out of my chair at the announcement of ‘Catastrophic Reconfiguration‘. Still, hey, that cover artwork from Julian Felipe Mora Ibañez alongside the first single/title track (“Catastrophic Reconfiguration“) hit just at the right time a few months ago when I was still high off the fumes from the latest Coffin Rot record, feeling each band’s efforts to juice up the old ways.

For all of the polish, punched-up songcraft and hifalutin production values that went into making ‘Catastrophic Reconfiguration‘ the most approachable, glossiest experience from Molder to date they’ve still not alienated themselves from the look, sound and style of underground United States death metal specificity. I consider this a wild virtue, a well-sustained focus on classic death metal interest without even a slight notion of bullshit creeping into their ideation. Otherwise, I think the first thing to say about this third record is that it feels like these folks have put some actual goddamn work into their gig, bringing a general one-up beyond the punkish thwack of ‘Engrossed in Decay‘ before it. Part of this potentially stems from the writing sessions for the album including second guitarist Carlos Santini after I believe the previous two records were managed as a trio and this merely makes for a more active slate of ideas, all of theme bulging with energetic ~3-4 minute death metal songs built on riffs but not plain-ass rigidity and/or generica. That said, follow a song like “Pulped” note for note and you’ll get why folks sometimes describe the band’s riffcraft on a spectrum which includes neothrash and late 80’s death metal as we’re not getting tech-interruptus or any sort of wild abandon out the gates so much as momentum built.

For my own taste the opener rips and all but the album kicks off the training wheels a bit with the blaze through “Overdue Burial”, resembling that link between early Florida death and thrashing Midwest sounds where Molder are typically at their gunked-up best. Beyond that point the creative turns taken throughout their previous LP start to fire up with “Frothing” where, yes, they’re still working on the old Swedeath n’ roll jog riff as a jumping off point for several riffs but the more sprawling riffs, classic leads, and brilliant use of vocal effects make this song stand out as a highlight upon return. I dunno if this album will necessarily sate the riff-obsessed old heads overall and really their focus ain’t that deep but for my own taste this mid-section of ‘Catastrophic Reconfiguration‘ finds its pocket and starts to crank it with standout riffcraft. You’d hope a song like “Masked in Mold” is part of their live set as a damned rager where all of their best attributes click behind a sort of Exodus-level ass shaker of a main riff with its rifled out triplet finisher. Death metal in this style rarely sounds like such a good time and these folks’ve done well to keep it moving and keep the blood up. They’d just as soon reel it in, though, and go ‘Mental Funeral‘ with it right after (via “Bursted Innards“) and at that point I was pretty sold on this record from the first spin.

Regressive death metal doesn’t need to be all that deep, accomplished or even specialized if the end result is a decent enough set of songs and in that regard Molder have done well to dust up quick and dirty pieces one after another here. Their work will rarely surprise the classicist death metal devotee yet all of it conveys a rare level of enthusiasm in terms of their performances and (to some degree) arrangements. Of course this album finds the band sounding better than ever and yes, Greg Wilkinson‘s Earhammer Studio mix/master gives it an enormous boost to pro-level but these songs’d still hit their mark on a circa 2004 96kpbs .WMA downsampled tape rip with a dusty-ass hiss thanks to a pretty solid grasp on nutso vocal expression, wilding solos, and mosh-worthy riffs that take the task by the damned throat. You could do a lot worse, for sure, and I’d add that very few bands in this specific straightforward throwback death arena are doing it better at present. A moderately high recommendation.

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