Review Summary: Dear Lord, is it possible to play ANY faster?
Origin is a five piece death metal outfit that doesn't bother with infusing jazz elements into their music, nor being technically progressive with odd guitar techniques, or even bother with mixing up time signatures. Nope, this band purely and simply aims to play very, VERY fast.
This very aspect of the band is what makes or breaks them. People looking for any sort of Severed Savior or Necrophagist worship will hardly find that kind of musical style. As previously stated, playing fast is Origin's game. And I, personally, don't mind.
I like to consider myself someone who listens to the more progressive side of metal; therefore I tend to listen to bands like Cynic and Between the Buried and Me. But being introduced to the genre through the "br00tal" aspect of metal, I can tolerate some deathcore and just straight up Death Metal (Decapitated, Knights of the Abyss.) A major reason why I listen to Origin and what makes them quite fun to listen to is the sheer tenacity they have when approaching their instruments, which is to say, the fact that they have no problem blaring throughout the album at breakneck speeds.
The album opens up with "The Aftermath" and makes a very clear point of the band stating, "Here's our speed. We're sticking with it. Like it or get the f**k out." It serves its purpose as the blisteringly fast introduction to the rest of the album, complete with machine gun drums and arpeggiated/melodic scales all over the place.
And speaking of drums let it be known that John Longstreth is absolutely incredible behind the kit. The man can play absurdly fast speeds with frightening machine like consistency, yet manages to show tidbits here and there of fine tuned musical interpretation that won't be noticed on first listen, but given time, serve to enhance both the overall quality and replayability of the music.
The guitars as previously mentioned stick largely with a selection of arpeggiated scales mixed with some melodic overtures here and there. Just like the drums, they're surprisingly capable and technical, but nothing that necessarily distinguishes itself from the rest of the album, and it most certainly doesn't rival anything released by Decrepit Birth. Again, they're not bad, and for the purposes of the album, they fit absolutely perfectly. The bass, like most modern death metal, isn't very present, but when it does manage to break the surface of the constant tide of drums and lead guitars, it manages to showcase an impressive amount of ingenuity with its role and definitely manages to keep the band moving along. When everything cuts out and all that's left is the bass, it sounds absolutely epic. (See the song Consuming Misery."
The vocal department is your average Death Metal affair, with James Lee screaming and growling his way throughout the album. Just as everything else, they don't break any barriers, but they certainly do a fine job of complementing the rest of the instruments. Judging by the album cover, one would think the lyrics would focus largely on extraterrestrial concepts akin to The Faceless, but both surprisingly and unfortunately they focus on the general Death Metal concepts of pain and suffering.
There isn't a whole lot more to say about Origin except, they play incredibly fast. For the purposes of the album, they fit that niche perfectly. There's hardly anything progressive here, and their technicality is superb but not earth shattering. If you want a nice, heavy slab of Death Metal, look no further than Origin. Oh, also, if you want to hear the best implementation of a recorded sample in any metal song, just listen to Antithesis. Trust me, it's incredibly intense.
Recommended Tracks:
Finite
Consuming Misery
Antithesis
