Album: Entity
Release Date: June 7, 2011
Label: Nuclear Blast
Origin have a very special place in my black heart. Two summers ago, when I was working a shitty ass job as a convenience store clerk, I found time to make it to the Summer Slaughter Tour; which that year featured this band as well as Dying Fetus, Necrophagist, and (the ultimate icing on the cake) Behemoth. I enjoyed most of the bands (there were a few that were either decent or just crap), but Origin put on a hell of a show. Not only that, but my buddy Cameron had made some contacts with Paul their lead guitarist, and so I got to hang out and talk with him for a little while. And the guy was really cool! He was extremely gracious, and incredibly humble; and I don't know about you, but if I could play guitar that well, I would have a hard time being that humble.
Origin's latest album comes comes on the heels of their 2008 release Antithesis, an record which garnered praise from fans and critics alike. The biggest difference with Entity is the absence of vocalist James Lee, now replaced by the relatively unknown Jason Keyser. Lee's abscence from the record is definitely a mark against them, though to be fair Origin has had a tough time keeping members due to their obscurity and lack of proximity to each other. Keyser is serviceable at best; he is able to keep the signature Origin sound alive, but has nowhere near the amount of emotion and high/low contrasting range which Lee brought on Origin's previous releases.
Aside from that, Entity keeps the signature Origin sound alive. The sweeping arpegios, maniacal time signatures, and machine gun double bass drumming are back with a few surprises mixed in. For the most part, the tracks hit you hard and fast - only four of the eleven tracks clock in at over three minutes, and of the four that do, two of them hit the six minute mark. One of these tracks, 'Saligia', is an epic journey dotted with staccato riffing laden with double bass grooves. The guitar leads have an almost middle eastern feel to them, akin to American death metal brethren Nile. Two tracks later, 'Fornever' uses the same type of exotic riffing but also includes a very slowed down guitar riff over lightening fast double bass patterns. Its also nice to see a throwback to the classic Celtic Frost/Bathory style intro in the song 'Banishing Illusion' - which later takes another strange twist when it moves into a folksy sort of dance riff almost akin to something you'd find from Finnish folk metal provocateurs Finntroll.
There is definitely some good variety here, however a lot of the tracks are pretty basic; not that being basic or simple is a bad thing, but for Origin - a band known for their technical prowess - its somewhat of a letdown. There are also times when they throw new sounds in that just don't work. Take for example the high-pitched guitar squeals in 'Committed' that might be considered adventurous, but to me they just sound a bit annoying. There are also times when the bands chaotic swarms of sound can get a little bit too chaotic, such as the appropriately titled 'Swarm'. That might be a misnomer when we're talking about a band like Origin, however there is definitely an argument to be made that Antithesis and it's predecessor Echoes of Decimation were able to pull it off, whereas parts of Entity seem to use chaotic time signatures simply for the sake of being chaotic.
As a whole the album is strong, though there is a not a whole lot that is new here. In the case of a band like Origin, I do understand that they have a particular sound, and they really are not the same band unless they adhere to said sound. Having said that, if you are looking for classic Origin, you will not be disappointed. I personally would like to see a little more growth from the band; I look at Entity as being more of a transitional record. They seem to be trying to regroup and find their direction going forward, and Entity is most definitely a solid release. I just didn't 'WOW' me like Echoes and Antithesis did.
OVERALL SCORE: 8 out of 10
-J
No comments:
Post a Comment