The aural manifestation of everything and everyone within a 10-mile radius simultaneously collapsing in on them? That’s what grind is all about – that, and giving The Man a big ol’ middle finger and more visual references to World Wars I and II than the History Channel.
But what if grindcore’s main elements stepped aside to do something a little different? Would the impact be the same? As the likes of Gridlink and Pig Destroyer have shown and Maruta demonstrate on album three, yes!
Guitarist Eduardo Borja takes a decidedly more disharmonic tack, but with an intensely staccato approach, the result being a rollicking, dynamic ride created by acerbic chords, oddball patterning and mathematical precision. Imagine Meshuggah and Gorguts played 10 times as fast while drums, bass and vocals dominate whatever space is left.
There are moments where it’s difficult to distinguish one song from another, or even where one ends and another begins, but Remain Dystopian offers an instructive perspective shift on the origins of grindcore’s intensity./o:p
