Origin - Antithesis

November 29, 2008

Reviewer: Jesse

Stop, put down that Monster energy drink.  I have a better way to give yourself an anxiety attack and an irregular heartbeat; Origin’s new album, Antithesis.  One of the original bands to push the technical and brutal insanity envelope to new heights, Origin presses even harder on the accelerator with the release of Antithesis.  As expected, the songs are furious and unrelenting, but something very important has sneaked its way into their writing.  Something that has seemed to elude the vast majority of the hyper-technical death metal crowd; memorable songs.  Now don’t get me wrong, the tracks that make up Antithesis are still ridiculously insane, but there are some really impressive moments throughout that have most of the songs leaving lasting impressions which is quite the contrast to a lot of the albums in this field and frankly, Origin’s previous albums as well.

Before, if I wanted a quick fix of brutal blastery and insanity, I’d throw on one of their earlier albums and promptly turn it off after about three and a half songs as that was all you’d need.  However, even after one spin of Antithesis, I was already looking forward to playing it again as I heard quite a few moments that really stuck out, particularly in the opening track “The Aftermath.”  There’s a very cool crescendo that starts to grow right from the start and climaxes with a nice high-pitched, fast guitar lead which makes way for the vocals to come roaring in at just the perfect moment.  It’s a very powerful song, expertly put together.

The song “Finite” is another example of Origin not just trying to blast people’s faces off but are consciously trying to make an impact on people’s memory.  A quick song, but with a constant riff that goes from start to finish.  The title track is probably the shining moment of the album.  “Antithesis” is a nine and a half minute beast that strategically pummels and eases up throughout the marathon that it is.  It’s quite impressive and a perfect way to end the album.

One issue that I had was that the vocals were oddly mixed throughout the album.  On some songs they were way in the background and on others, the deep growls were clear while the higher-pitched screams were barely audible.  After a while you don’t notice as much, but it did seem rather stark at first considering the otherwise amazing production job. 

Overall, I think Origin was beginning to notice that the style they helped pioneer was becoming over-saturated and needed to take their sound to a slightly higher level and I would say they did that rather convincingly.

Release Date: April 1st, 2008
Label: Relapse Records

TRACK LISTING

1. The Aftermath
2. Algorithm
3. Consuming Misery
4. Wrath of Vishnu
5. Finite
6. The Appalling
7. Void
8. Ubiquitous
9. The Beyond Within
10. Antithesis

Total playing time: 51:02

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