From Maruta to Trivium
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc53Rb3voss]
There’s been a lot of talk about Nick Augusto joining Trivium, but not enough about him leaving Maruta. After tech-ing for Trivium and filling in on some dates, Augusto recently replaced Travis Smith on drums — not that I care. I do care about Maruta, though, because they’re a bitchin’ grindcore band. Their MySpace currently lists Augusto’s replacement as “RoboGrinder 3000.” That’s gotta hurt.
It’ll be tough to replace Augusto. You can see him in the above Maruta video — my favorite metal video of last year. Its total budget looks to be about a six-pack of beer. Yet it has me riveted for its two minutes and 16 seconds. It has some of my favorite metal video clichés: the guitar neck cam, the ground-level camera barreling through a wasteland, the (simulated) circular dolly pan around the band. More importantly, it reeks of attitude. It’s dirty and ragged — I love it when the frontman slips backward because he’s going for it so hard — yet some sick chops are at work. One can’t blame Augusto for seeking a better paycheck. I wonder how he’ll fare in Trivium’s glitzy pop metal world, far away from the grind.
