Origin
Echoes Of Decimation

THE REVIEW

The latest effort by Origin (Paul Ryan, Mike Flores, James Lee, John Longstreth, and Jeremy Turner), a Brutal Death Metal band formed in 1997 in Kansas, USA, dates back to 2005 and is titled "Echoes Of Decimation."

The album aims to continue the path taken in "Informis Infinitas Inhumanitas", a 2002 album where Origin had increased their technical/compositional depth compared to their early days, to the point that at times they were considered a Technical Death Metal band. The band is characterized by not having a fixed lead singer, as almost all members take turns at the microphone. Thus, the vocals on the album are disharmonic, consisting of growls alternated with screams (somewhat in the style of George Fisher from Cannibal Corpse, but perhaps at an even more extreme level). The drummer churns out very fast double bass patterns, typical of the genre, although there are certainly superior drummers (just look at Flo Mounier or Henning Paulsen). The riffing is good and varied and seems to be tailored to support the vocal variations. All this might seem like the prelude to an excellent work, which, in my opinion, does not even reach adequacy.

The reason is the excessive coldness; everything seems studied and, above all, already heard. It feels like listening to one of the many up-and-coming bands trying to stand out by emulating the greats of the past without succeeding perfectly. Musically, the group is certainly competent, but unfortunately, they lack the emotional component, which is what makes an album stand out among thousands. It almost seems the group tends to showcase their skill rather than engage the listener emotionally. Listening to this album or any medium-level Brutal Death Metal album is more or less equivalent; perhaps the technical aspect will strike you more, but nothing else. Some might like it, but nothing about this band has left an impression on me. Perhaps it's true that a masterpiece similar to albums like "Tomb Of The Mutilated," "None So Vile," or "Effigy Of The Forgotten" couldn't have been expected, just to name a few, but more could have been done.

Analyzing the CD more closely, the central block is certainly the best, formed by the trio "Designed to Expire", "Cloning the Stillborn", and "Staring from the Abyss", probably the best songs on the CD, or rather, the only ones sufficient in my opinion, but they alone cannot lift the fortunes of the entire album.