From the sprawling urban pits of Chicagoland to the southwestern suburban town of Shorewood, Illinois. The upper midwestern state of Illinois is a hotbed for all forms of Metal. Despite being outside of the Chicago area, this quiet town is still close to the heart of the Chicago Metal scene. An underground scene that produced some pretty influential bands. So it is no surprise a band like MOLDER would spawn from this area.

Having formed back in 2017 and with hard work and multiple rehearsals they would later release a series of demos that led up to a live recording from The Cobra Lounge. Over the next few years they would continue to release demos and live albums as the band honed in on their craft. This was the humble start that brought us to where they are today. Now under the banner of Prosthetic Records, MOLDER is back with their third full-length album “Catastrophic Reconfiguration” that was released on November 8th, 2024. Offering up a blaring old school death sound that is drenched in thrash for 34:21 minutes with ten tracks that hit fast and hard.

The album art is interesting with a corpse being dissolved or eaten by an organic green monstrous alien mass. Oozing green slime-like vile slime that holds multiple distorted and vile faces that are protruding outwards. Both the band’s logo and album art are a sky blue color. Kind of reminds me of an older album art from the mid to late 90’s Death Metal. I do think they could have added a little flair to the album name font though but that's just me.

The album opens up with a short click track of a sifi sound that leads into a heavy low tuned chord progression that plays a bit with the other guitar and drums before really taking off. “Catastrophic Reconfiguration” has that fast and older Death Metal sound, even how it was recorded gives off that feel. Right away I can hear influences of AUTOPSY. The track even breaks into a decent lead that squeals out over a break down.

 “Pulped” follows after with a thick bass that leads into some heavy low tuned slam death riffs. A slower pace at first with the lead shredding hard over the slow chugging. With a simple break down the pace quickens as the chord progressions build the aggression. The bass thickens it with the vocals adding to the grimy vile tone.

So one thing I noticed right away was the influential tonality from bands like AUTOPSY, ENTOMBED and even PESTILENCE. Though you can hear these influences within their music, MOLDER does a decent job at formulating their own sound. “Catastrophic Reconfiguration” does a fantastic job at bringing that old school death tonality. Back when it was raw and heavy but still fast and aggressive. The way this album was recorded also adds to that rawness. Music back then just hit different and MOLDER did a great job displaying it. Sure some of the levels are a bit off and some of the tracks have similarity, but it adds to that raw aggression of traditional older death. I dig it for what it is and it works.

Closing off the album with “Nothing Left To Ooze” hits you with a nice barrage of blast beats, a thick chugging chord progression and a solid bass that coats everything. Leading into a decent slam death breakdown that slides a few times before picking back up into a disgusting torrent of aggression. Decent time switches throughout the track which further adds to the filth. A solid raw track that hits fast and hard with a good build up. Great way to close off a decent album.

Overall, the album is not bad, I would recommend this as it has a lot to offer. The production value isn't bad and further adds to that old school sound of traditional Death from the 90’s. Like I said before, you can hear their influences but with their own flavor. It’s a decent album for what it is and helps with the resurgence of that older raw and aggressive death that we all loved. MOLDER did a great job in capturing this and displaying that vile tone with their latest album. “Catastrophic Reconfiguration” has that rawness you may enjoy and I look forward to hearing more from them.