Origin
Antithesis


3.0
good

Review

by Wizard USER (85 Reviews)
May 18th, 2008 | 104 replies


Release Date: 2008 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Speed and technicality only add up to a mediocre effort from yet another tech/death band.

As of recently, the tech/death metal scene has exploded with a number of bands making their presence felt through high-speed guitar skills. In fact, some of these bands are so god damn fast that their songs blur together into a pile of pretentious garbage that only a metalhead who hasn’t heard this music before, would think is the coolest metal on earth. Speed isn’t everything and yet so many bands try their luck at technical wizardry by increasing the tempo of their ‘samey’ sounding death metal. This movement in death metal will quickly collapse into itself and become the new trendy nu-metal/metalcore scene unless a band can come along to pull this out of the ***ter. There are a few bands out there right now that have some excellent chops but a lot of these newer bands really don’t have that constant onslaught of intensity that a band like Origin brings to the table. Does Origin masterfully outdo themselves and become leaders of this movement with an album full of razor sharp blast beats done at speeds unheard of by man? Sort of.

Enter Origin; formed in Topeka, Kansas in 1998 who have been around for nearly 10 years now and show no signs of slowing down or for that matter, slowing down. Origin’s last album, Echoes of Decimation was a mess of sweeping arpeggios but also had a knack for creating some brutal death metal. Antithesis is not the hugest step up from their previous album but rather improves and tightens up all the loose bolts that put Echoes of Decimation into the ‘boring-after-five-listens’ pile. They have also sped up their hyper blasting drums and guitars to levels that are truly going to be difficult for other bands to match.

Guitar riffs grind and pulverize while being executed with surgical precision throughout. Sweep picking arpeggios are still aplenty here but not in over excess like on Origin’s last album. Even though a majority of the guitaring is very speedy and rarely changes tempo, songs such as “The Aftermath” and “Wrath of Vishnu” add rhythm changeups into the mix giving us a break from the barrage of tremolo picked riffs and blast beats. Speaking of blast beats, this album is a monster in the drumming department. The execution of tight blast beats and speedy drum fills are done so fast that it might make the listener think this album is one long song. With a closer listen, little drumming details begin to jump out and soon makes it clear that this drummer has some skill. Bass for the most part is lost in a deafening roar of guitars and drums but the odd bass fill here and there is better than nothing. Vocally, the singer has a range between a low growl and higher pitched rasp that alternates fluidly throughout each song. The lyrical speed fits the music perfectly but makes it very unclear as to what he is singing (or growling) about. One final note about the music is a gem that was saved for the last track. The title track, “Antithesis” showcases a side of the band that has never been done before on any of their releases. Sure the song is 9:32 minutes long, but it really shows maturity in the bands sound, spicing things up with hints of black metal and a bit of a slowdown (trust me, you will need it).

Overall, Origin accomplishes what they have set out to do with each release: pulverize, crush, and destroy every eardrum cell in hopes to be the fastest and tightest metal band around. Unfortunately, Origin comes up short with another album that might sound awesome upon first listen, but falter down the same line of mediocrity where most tech/death metal bands are today. Still, I will give credit to Origin for upping the ante with technical speed and precision that will hopefully make most metalheads happy for a while.



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user ratings (414)
3.7
great
other reviews of this album
krig9412 (3.5)
Dear Lord, is it possible to play ANY faster?...

battleinthenorth (5)
A 10,000bpm exercise in ass-kicking. You are not ready....

Shredzilla (2.5)
While being extremely technical and bludgeoning the listener with and endless amount of sweep picked...



Comments:Add a Comment 
Wizard
May 18th 2008


20564 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Why was my review deleted?

Mikesn
Emeritus
May 18th 2008


3707 Comments


server crashed, all reviews from the end of Febrauary to yesterday were deleted

Wizard
May 18th 2008


20564 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Hahahahah I thought something like that was happening considering the site has been acting rather strange lately. Thanks Mikesn!

masscows
May 18th 2008


2230 Comments


oh

will that be fixed or do i have to repost?

SoulReaper
May 22nd 2008


193 Comments

Album Rating: 1.5

tital track is very awsome.

Wizard
May 23rd 2008


20564 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

That was really the only highlight on this album.

FukuiSan
May 24th 2008


179 Comments


Yet another tech/death band!?!!

Wizard
May 24th 2008


20564 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

I feel the scene is becoming really oversaturated with these types of bands. But judging from your rating, I can see you will disagree with me hahaha. I find the album entertaining for about 10 minutes at a time.

HinDae
June 16th 2008


27 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

this album is amazing, the only thing about it is the title track, after a few listen it feels like 3 songs pasted together to form a 9 minuter, its awesome either way though



excellent stuff overall, so fast an assassin on crack cant keep up with it, so brutal it makes the most nasty of serial killers quake in their shoes, and so precise that, well...i cant think of anything for that 1....

Wizard
June 16th 2008


20564 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Hahahah you should write a review for this too. The first time I gave this a listen, the album was a blur (besides the last song which is by far the most diverse on here).

AngelPhoenix
June 17th 2008


2761 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

There's really a lot going on here, and I think there's just enough variation overall to keep things moving. That being said, it did start to grate on my after a while, but I'm still going back to Aftermath, Wrath of Vishnu, Finite, Ubiquitous, and of course the killer title track that they need to emulate more.

Wizard
June 17th 2008


20564 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Its still a decent piece of death metal, don't get me wrong hahaha. Its just too much, too fast!

Hawks
June 22nd 2008


93615 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

This is the only album I have from Origin and its really good. I'll have to check out some of their other stuff.

Digging: Black Curse - Burning in Celestial Poison

Wizard
June 22nd 2008


20564 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

"Antithesis" owns this album. Just shows how much they have matured since Decimation of the Weak. The intro to "Wrath Of Vishnu" just rules. Fast as fuck!



Pebster49
June 22nd 2008


3026 Comments


When ever I play the new Opeth it runs into this album. The drumms are insane.

Wizard
June 22nd 2008


20564 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Hahahahah Itunes, correct? Alphabetized?



And yes, the drums are insane. I would almost go as far to say that they probably have one of the fastest drummers on the planet hahaha.

Wizard
August 4th 2008


20564 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

The more I listen to this album, the more I pick up on little details from the guitars and drums. Really starting to like this album a bit more. Its tedious at first, but it grows after a while.

AngelPhoenix
August 4th 2008


2761 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

It's true, there's actually a lot of subtle tunnings and change-ups going on. It's just a chore to pick it out cause of how insane they play.

Anthracks
September 20th 2008


8206 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

This album is so awesomeeeeeeesweepsweep



Each Origin album is better than the last, hopefully the next one will be a 5. =DThis Message Edited On 09.19.08

Digging: Gigan - Anomalous Abstractigate Infinitessimus

Slaytan
October 22nd 2008


1185 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

I like this album, but the vocals are mixed soooooo low.



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