Year Released: 2017
Genre: Technical Brutal Death Metal, Technical Deathgrind
Similar Artists: Dying Fetus, Cytotoxin
Origin’s 2017 release Unparalleled Universe will always be an album I have conflict with. Obviously, it is not Antithesis and it never will be. The riffs are there, but there are tracks that show signs of recovery from Omnipresent. There are even signs of deathcore on here – and that is meant in the derogatory sense. However many problems there are with this album, it will always be my first Origin album, and I thank Reckless Records on Madison Avenue for having this album. I do not regret buying it, and I never will.
First, I will discuss what I don’t like about this album. I mentioned the parts that show that Origin is still not over that purely deathgrind phase of 2014, aka, Omnipresent. “Invariance Under Transformation” is four and a half minutes of the same deathgrind riff over and over again. It sounds cool at first as it is very groovy and has potential to speed up. No, it just stays like that the whole time. Okay, fine, you got me. There’s a few measures of a different riff. But it still goes back to the same riff as before! It’s cool at first, but it becomes boring. I guess this track may serve as a sort of breathing point in the album, but it’s extremely tiring, and I have no interest in the entire track.
Next is the deathcore influence. It is a frightening thought: Origin meeting the same fate as Cryptopsy did in 2008 when they released The Unspoken King, but I doubt that will happen (but I am still afraid). The deathcore influence can be found on track eight, “A Burden of Prescience.” This track is two minutes of epic tremolo picking and riffs, and then two minutes of one, long, monotonous breakdown. Some bands can pull this off like Cytotoxin on their song “Heirs of Downfall.” This breakdown, like Cytotoxin’s, gets slower and slower as it goes. But it is such a failure of a breakdown and a waste of the severall good riffs that composed the first half of the song.
My next concern was not previously mentioned. This would be the cover at the end of the album. Not that it’s a bad cover… I mean, it is a bad cover… but that’s not the point. My problem is that they finished this album with a cover. I hate when bands do this, and I really hope that this doesn’t become a trend with Origin, as they did this on their album before this as well. “Unequivocal” reminds me a lot of “Antithesis.” In 2008, Origin released a great album and the final track, a nine-minute-long epic called “Antithesis,” was the perfect ending to the album, finishing with a slow, atmospheric riff with a sweeping solo. “Unequivocal” is literally that – nine minutes of epic riffs that finishes off with a slow, atmospheric riff that ends the album perfectly. Now imagine a shitty cover following up said perfect ending. Yeah, it’s about as much of a boner-kill as you’d think.
Now for the good stuff. My first time seeing Origin live was not even a year ago. During this concert – Summer Slaughter 2017 – I heard a lot of songs played by Origin that I found myself enjoying a lot. I did not know these songs by title as the time, but I now know them as “Infinitesimal to the Infinite” and “Cascading Failures, Diminishing Returns.” These songs show a lot of old Origin in them. Not from their classic Antithesis, but from Echoes of Decimation and Informis Infinitas Inhumanitas. Other songs on here that are reminiscent of old Origin include “Dajjal” and “Unequivocal,” both showing that they are still able to write like they could in 2008.
Does this album have its rough spots? Certainly. It is a shaky start after their almost catastrophic Omnipresent, so it is forgivable. I am glad to see Origin getting back on track with this album and, as usual, I look forward to their next release.
Overall Rating: 86%
The Metal Void 