MOLOSSER – Molosser

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6.0

• Bands:
  MOLOSSER
• Duration: 00:17:42
• Available from: 11/05/2026
• Label:

• Gutter Prince Cabal

If little or nothing is known about this new entity called Molosser, starting from its mysterious date of creation, we can extrapolate some clues directly from their nation of origin, New Zealand.
Historically, in fact, this country has always generated musical realities in metal that are particularly similar to the field of death metal, generally understood in its darkest and most martial forms and heavily influenced by a black metal aura that is perhaps not directly perceptible in the music, but rather in a hostile and chaotic attitude that has made groups like Diocletian and Heresiarch cornerstones of fierce brutality and severe musical violence.
We don't mention these two bands by chance, because by analyzing the Molosser line-up, we discover that drummer CJ played in both of these bands in the past, carrying their imprinting through osmosis into the notes of this self-titled debut EP.

The circularity in the riffing of “Strychnine Hill”, as well as the telluric assaults of “Ogre Column” don't lie, and instantly bring to mind that very characteristic style of the aforementioned bands, defining themselves stylistically with extreme precision and a lot of confidence.
If the southern band therefore knows well how to interpret its death metal, many gaps emerge in the compositional and structural phase: in addition to remembering their primary influences too much, there seems to be an almost complete lack of a captivating and dynamic writing ability, which eliminates the annoying sensation of being faced with a collage of disjointed riffs with little engaging appeal.
In fact, already the first tracks mentioned do not shine in this sense, prolonging the agony with the not very incisive fast passages of “Vengeance Manifest” and leading to the real boredom of “Indomitable Force”, a longer song that would suggest a more ambitious construction, but which instead collapses into a jumble of repetitive solutions, really not very cohesive with each other.
If the musical side therefore ends up wrapping itself around itself without bite, the situation is not much improved by AK's vocal contribution, engaged in a hyper-guttural rattle that is effective in the first few bars, but overall lacking adequate personality to be able to mark the work with the right amount of charisma.

If it normally happens, in the debut phase, to find ourselves faced with bands with many ideas but with a still immature style, with Molosser we find ourselves faced with exactly the opposite: an already very mature group with clear ideas on what to play, but still lacking in how to do it best.
In light of this, we feel like saving “Molosser” with a pass, but hoping for a decisive and profitable evolution of the quartet in the writing and arranging phase of their songs.