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Maruta: Forward into regression
06/07/11 || The Duff
I never venture very far into grind, something I’ve stated here and there sorry for the repeated update, but with Rotten Sound’s latest I thought fuck it; one thing in talking about “Cursed” roused forumer Lumberjack, who said that Swedish deathgrind was appearing old to him. Well, initially my thought was “Goddamn, get the tree out from within your ass, man”, but then reminded myself that the dude’s opinions on music are very rarely far afield, most often than not spot on, so travel I did to a distributor that seems to do no wrong, Willowtip Records and their signing Maruta.
“Forward into Regression” (I’d suggest rather “Dollar Billz Be Weighin’ Us Down”, or “One Step Forward, Tooo Steps Back… An’ Den Anudder Step Back… So Dat’s Tree Stepsh Bak Alltoogevver”) is the band’s sophomore effort, a follow-up to the debut “In Narcosis” that seemed generally well received making Maruta a band to watch; this is my introduction to the outfit, and I’m blown the fuck away. As with new Rotten Sound, this is contender for top five of the year, but they don’t so much play in the vein of Nasum; well, they do, but mix it in with later-era Gorguts and of course hints of crust, Napalm Death horrendousness.
I know you are all splooging now.
whispers in creepy “Sixth Sense” fashion: I’m splooging right there with you.
The production is quite the light affair, grimey but not in a Swedodeath manner. More new-age, allowing every instrument shine through with some expense at the drums; it isn’t fantastic, quite tinny but does the trick. The guitars are what appear to be 7-string guitars played in a very low drop-tuning, because the riffs go from standard to bombing in no time, and I don’t mean that in the Jam Master Flesh sense “bombing” when talking about a baby with back – the drop is alarming, but never in a gimmicky manner, the band knows how to use it to a very fulfilling effect.
After hearing a 7-string in play, sounds like they’re simply playing half a step down goddamn I know my trade so fucking well.
The rest of the riffs are breakdowns, grind, and most appeasing “Obscura”-style Gorguts bizarre and then with tracks such as “Drown in Black Matter” hints of Disgorge in a grind-sloppy manner. It is an absolutely killer mix, making this less of a grindcore effort and more of a fantastic death metal record with moderate elements of grind least of all the abbreviated track-lengths. The one drawback is with the vocals of Mitchell Luna – too yapping to be convincingly deranged in the Pig Destroyer sense, and not filled with enough vitriol to do Mieszko justice, and then the guttural style is monotone and underwhelming; suitable but not much else.
An amazing disc, Maruta have shown by album number two (or one, what do I know?) that grindcore still has a lot to offer.
- Information
- Released: 2011
- Label: Willowtip Records
- Website: Maruta MySpace
- Band
- Mitchell Luna: vocals
- Eduardo Borja: guitars
- Mauro Cordoba: bass
- Daniel Morris: drums
- Tracklist
- 1. March Forward (Into Regression)
- 02. Strain
- 03. Plague Domain
- 04. Stagnation Routine
- 05. Devoid Of Allegiance
- 06. Drown in Black Matter
- 07. Body Weapon
- 08. Swine Swallower
- 09. Conform to Deform
- 10. Etched in Granite
- 11. Salient
- 12. Solace Through Self Annihilation
- 13. Hand Of the Overseer
- 14. Failure King
- 15. Gaiares
- 16. Blood of the Luddite
