Goodness...this takes me back some time...like over a decade, to my reviewing of the Topeka, Kansas based Technical Death Metal act's sophomore album Informis Infinitas Inhumanitas, released through Relapse Records in June of 2002! Regretfully, that review is now no longer available, as due to the 2005 computer crash at ConcreteWeb headquarters, all of the site's material prior to that date is gone. Colleagues Trik (no longer with us) and Ivan reviewed some of the band's material after that (somehow we missed the band's 2008 album Antithesis), with the most recent one, for the Entity album, being posted 18/09/2011 (check the website's “Archive” section if you feel so inclined), but regretfully I've found things lacking in decent info. Therefor I shall start this review (well, continue it, okay?) with a brief historical oversight of the band's career.
Let's, for starters, look at the line-up, of which only guitarist/ backing singer Paul Ryan has remained. The original 1997 outfit, consisting of Ryan, co-guitarist Jeremy Turner, lead singer Mark Manning, bassist Clint Applehanz and drummer George Fluke, released its A Coming Into Existence in 1998, which would lead to their longtime signing to the Relapse Records label. However, prior to the label releasing the band's self-titled debut album in 2000, the line-up had already changed with Doug Williams and John Longstreth stepping in on the bass and the drums respectively. The line-up would prove to be unstable, with Williams being replaced by Mike Flores in 2001 (the latter remaining there to date). On the drums, Longstreth stepped out for some time between 2003 and 2006, his role taken over by James King for that interval. Turner also stepped out for a while, between 2002 and early 2007 (his spot in the line-up, interestingly, was filled by the band's original bassist, Clint Applehanz, whom also took on additional backing vocals during his second tenure with the band), but he eventually left the band for good in 2010, which left the band with only the one guitarist playing!
Last, but not least, the vocalists! Manning not only sang on the demo, but also on the band's debut full-length. He was replaced by James Lee, who left (or rather, was ejected from) the band in 2010 (he went on to join Face Of Oblivion), making him the lead singer on the band's albums Informis Infinitas Inhumanitas (2002), Echoes Of Decimation (2005), and Antithesis (2008), which was also the last album released through Relapse. The Entity album was actually recorded by the trio of Ryan-Flores-Longstreth in 2010, and on the strength of it the band signed to Nuclear Blast US that same year. For touring needs, Mica Meneke (whom had previously fronted The Faceless, Ontogeny, and Legion Victorious) was inducted into the ranks, but he was also gone within a year (to continue with Sol Asunder), making him the only singer Origin has no official recordings from. In 2011, Jason Keyser (also of Mucopus, and formerly of Detriment and Skinless) took up permanent position behind the mike stand.
Which brings me full circle to current day matters, and the album at hand. As already explained by colleague Ivan in his Entity review, the band's music “...is filled with hyper-sonic Blast attacks, brutal Death Metal-assaults and ultra-heavy Grindeath eruptions, full of breaks, hooks and decelerations,” and it is certainly true that, “...at the same time, the material is melodious (even though it is almost insulting to use that terminology right here) and dissonantly technical (shifting time signatures, arpeggio-styled guitar riffs, dual vocals)...” (citations taken from said review). In essence, Origin plays a brutally complex yet melodic, chaotic yet structured Death Metal with Grind elements, which come out most obviously in the mixed vocal stylings, with one singer using a deeper Growl/Grunt, whereas the other uses a somewhat Blackened screech. Surprisingly (and I dare not say it's the first time in the band's career, having missed out on so much of it) the guys have also found use for some keyboard lines, for starters in the beautifully atmospheric instrumental “Continuum”, which is in fact the calmest track on the album and a mere exercise for keyboard and arpeggio guitar only! On the equally instrumental “Obsolence”, the keyboard is only used as intro, and the complete band steps in with electrified instruments (exception for the drums, of course), yet although the song is heavier than the previously cited instrumental, it is also less furious than the rest of the material!
Put everything together, and you find yourself with an album which might please both lovers of Death/Grind ànd of complex/technical music! Personally, I cannot hold myself from propelling Omnipresent into my “Best Albums Of 2014”-lists...I wonder how you, dear reader, will rate the album. Which brings me to a strange twist in the band's means of promoting itself. You see, Origin has no website of its own...but the band doés have pages on MySpace and facebook (the latter also putting it on ReverbNation). Being unable to log onto MySpace with the outdated network PC I do my research on, I have no idea of what music might be posted there, but at (www.) facebook.com/Origin you'll find a lyric video for the new album's opening track “All Things Dead”, and an audio file for “Manifest Desolate” (among other material, including videos), which will already give you an idea of the album's more explosive side! For additional stuff off this album, I'm afraid you're gonna have to make due with whatever samples are usually provided by your trusted online sales sites (such as Amazon and iTunes, providing they dó carry the album)!