Release Date: December 03rd 2021. Record Label: Consouling Sounds/Lay Bare Recordings. Format: DD/Vinyl
Modder - S/T - Tracklisting
Mount Frequency
War Rituals
Spasm
When Your Bones Weren’t Meant To Be
Members
Mathlovsky - Guitars
Gregory Simons - Drums
Maurice van der Es - Bass
Maxime Rouquart - Guitars
Simon Felix - Electronics
Review
Modder’s debut self-titled album features a very big AMPLIFIER on the cover against a distorted murky background and gives you a great indication on what to expect with this record. Influenced by the likes of SLEEP, CONAN and BONGRIPPER but with a more Industrial Metal groove that is injected into the seedy depths of Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal that Modder offer here.
The album features four tracks and runs for a little over thirty minutes. Modder offer a bleak Progressive, Psychedelic and Daring style of music with a “BASS '' heavy approach and pounding drums moving along intelligently with the Industrial based Sludgy Guitars.
Opening song - Mount Pleasant - is a powerful mix of CONAN based CAVEMAN DOOM guitars but with a bit more Psychedelic Flair with the bleak heavy soundscapes coming in at different parts of the song. There’s a heavy distorted vibe that reminds myself of early era Kowloon Walled City. This album is purely instrumental and Modder do bring a nightmarish “BONGRIPPER” vibe when the gloomier parts of the song start to fully build up to loud volumes at their own distorted leisure. The haunting AMBIENT based soundscapes becomes the dominant force towards the end of the song before the heavy Sludge/Stoner Metal grooves fade away with impressive technical drumming being one of the main highlights of the song.
Second song - Wax Rituals - continues with the slow-to-mid pace Industrial based atmosphere with Modder building different levels or layers of Distorted Sludge/Stoner Metal that may sound simplistic at first but there’s a lot of wonderful progression on this track. The song does go slightly Post-Metal with a dirtier PELICAN-esque riff-wizardry unsettling the Sludge/Stoner Metal foundations the song is actually built upon. The band brings a wicked and eerie “DOOM & GLOOM” sample or synth based sound that would fit perfectly with the dark cold winter months slowly approaching us. The song is very melodic but also quite aggressive for a more muscular style of Instrumental Sludge/Stoner Metal.
The final two songs of Spasm and When Your Bones Weren’t Meant To Be are the strongest and strangest parts of the album with Modder going slightly OTT and more creative for even more impressive slabs of gloomy Industrial based Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal madness. The Ambient Sounds gives Modder a more dynamic and powerful feel.
The band aim big on this release and they’re influenced by the heavy hitters of the entire scenes their music fully represents. However, Modder have released a highly original album of their own and that’s down to their splendid use of Industrial Metal Grooves and the gloomy Psychedelic Synths.
With first rate production values throughout, Modder are an exciting new voice they’ve just released not only one of the best albums of 2021 but perhaps the best Instrumental Sludge/Stoner Metal album of the year.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Lay Bare Recordings and Viral Propaganda for the promo.
Modder's self-titled album will be available to buy on DD/Vinyl from December 3rd 2021 from the links below.
Links