Molder — Vanished Cadavers

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Illinois Death/Thrash newbies MOLDER create chunky, groove-based old school death metal in the vein of AUTOPSY, CIANIDE, DEATH, OBITUARY and ASPHYX on its debut full-length album “Vanished Cadavers.”

Featuring guitarist/vocalist Aaren Pantke, bassist Dominic Vaia and drummer Kyle Poole, this trio from hell has generated quite a buzz within the underground death metal scene since its 2017 formation as a result of  previously releasing several demos, a split with COFFIN ROT and a few live albums.

After “Granulated Chunks” immediately destroys the listener with its chunky and chugging mammoth riffing and wall of sound, “Sweet Taste Of Death,” with its slight crossover thrash tendencies, continues the relentless onslaught of mid-paced chugging riffs, groove-based rhythms and putrid vocals. Pantke sounds like a sinister mutation of Chuck Schuldiner, John Tardy and Mike Perun of fellow Chicago brethren CIANIDE. In fact, Perun lends his putrid vocals on the pummeling “Act Of Revenge.” Tracks such as “Necrobiome,” “Incipient Disease” and “Blood Chugger” stick to the band’s heavy chugging formula with a slight combination of punk, hardcore and thrash, while album closer “Serenade In Lead” is a blasting cover of ASPHYX done with justice.

It’s great to see the younger generation of bands playing this type of old school death metal with a simple-yet-fresh approach, and doing it justice like MOLDER does. If you’re already a fan of the aforementioned bands and this flavor of death metal, then “Vanished Cadavers” is a no-brainer purchase.

Songwriting: 9
Musicianship: 8
Memorability: 9
Production: 8