Maruta, Remain Dystopian
It’s been four years since Maruta’s sophomore effort left me with a cracked spine, cerebral hemorrhaging and a sever lack of confidence in my ability to head bang. Forward into Regression was just a beast of an album. And now that I have fully recouped physically, can I handle another dip in the Maruta grind pool with their latest full-length, Remain Dystopian?
To put it honestly… barely. The 17, yes seventeen, songs on the band’s third album tear through one ear hole and out the other in just over 27 minutes. All at nearly breakneck speeds that will leave you mentally shattered and just plain pooped trying to keep up — it’s an awesome feeling. And right from the start of “Genocide Interval,” the first track on the album, you know you’re in for a world of trouble.
Off-kilter timing, rabid drum work, guitars with minds of their own and Mitch Luna’s vicious vocal delivery have you on your toes trying to keep up with the group. But it’s all for naught as they’ve already moved on to a new rhythm section or swirling, grinding riffage by the time your brain has just decoded what it hear. The rhythm section of Mauro Cordoba (bass) and Danny Morris (drums) is do damned tight and in sync that they sound as if they are conjoined twins simultaneously beating the living hell out of your skull. Guitarist Eduardo Borja performance should feel out of place on its own, but fits in so well with the organized chaos that is Remain Dystopian.
I don’t know how these guys pull off some of the wacky shit they do musically — it shouldn’t work at all. Yet, each song, for as chaotic as they sound, is a cohesive monster waiting to chew you up and spit you out with relative ease. I can’t find anything wrong with this album. Every song is a standout piece of musicianship and mayhem.