For anyone who keeps up with these reviews knows that grind is far from my preferred style of metal, but my sense of adventure prevents me from keeping clear from grind altogether so I’ve taken to doing baby steps into such a violent world of music. So far, it’s paying off as I’m slowly finding myself enjoying more and more grind. My latest excursion has resulted in me discovering Marginal whose blend of grind is reminiscent of the truly classic shit, and it’s all but infallible.

I’m a very simple man at times when it comes to what I want from my metal. Today was one of those days that I just wanted something straightforward, heavy, and with little room for fucking around. Sounds like grind, in a nutshell, right? So when I sat down tonight, I remembered hearing a song from Marginal’s upcoming opus of madness, “Total Destruction” and then I had the urge to investigate further. What ensued was every great thing that I’ve heard about grind metal thrown into a single album, and it couldn’t have been any more tasteful. The twelve tracks of pure madness that we’re treated with for “Total Destruction” provides us an engaging experience that’s not only incredibly graphic (as grind should be), but also one that reflects on society without getting too political or just mindlessly wandering about. Serving as a vicious introspective into the world we live in today, Marginal doesn’t hold a damn thing back as everything about this album is fast, loud, and violent to the very end as “Total Destruction” plays on the tropes of grind with absolute style as Marginal brings out the true flavors of grind. But the main course comes in the form of the hook-filled rhythms coming at us at blistering pace to really bring the pain in such a way that Marginal punches the listener right in the fucking jaw with the force of a cement truck to really drive home what they’re going for, and to make sure you feel every single note to your very bones. And, naturally, all of “Total Destruction” is pure headbanging material to really make these volumes of chaos infectious to the very end.

Typically, I wouldn’t continue to keep investigating in a genre that I’ve had a bumpy reputation with, but there’s so much raw talent and history to be had with the style that I find it impossible to not revisit the genre every so often. But thanks to bands like Marginal, I’m slowly becoming more acquainted with grind and it’s albums like this that make me even more curious to see what else there is to be had. “Total Destruction” is far from ground-breaking with their variety of grind but I’ll be damned if it isn’t fucking entertaining from start to finish.

“Total Destruction” releases on December 15th via Transcending Obscurity Records!

LISTEN to advanced tracks from “Total Destruction” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Marginal on Facebook here.