Origin - Echoes of Decimation (2005)

That face might be goofy, but be honest, if you saw this in the night sky, you'd shit your pants.

Origin really likes its space aesthetic. Paul Ryan will be the first to tell you sound doesn't spread in vacuum, so any presentation of space through music has to be figurative. One would think synths, drawn out chords, lots of reverb, and overall serenity do a very convincing outer space impression. But these are not musical qualities characteristic of death metal, especially technical death metal,  are they?

The opener "Reciprocal" meets me with breakneck pace right out of the gate, with no signs of slowing down, and obscene amount barks and shrieks, from three vocalists. How easy is it to imagine I'm in space? Quite easy actually. Intensity - the amount of notes per second, amount of riffs per song and sheer relentlessness stand for the extreme conditions in space. The massive temperature disparity between parts of the listener's metaphorical spaceship illuminated by the Sun vs those that are not. Micro meteorites moving at multiple times the speed of sound, and of course, radiation. The dry and compressed production, with every singer and instrument equally in your face, stands for the lack of atmosphere or magnetosphere to soften the impact of harsh conditions. This chuggy, sweepy, tremoloey, bass heavy display of instrumental prowess is atmospheric.

I don't expect you, the reader, to buy into such a far-fetched interpretation. I have read interviews and I know during this period the band wanted to see how "fast and brutal" it could get (their own words). It's not wrong to refer to the songs as mere collections of motives and phrases. Despite the intricacy of each individual section, with modulation, string slides and bends, and detailed cymbal play, riffs pass by one after another, never reappearing to establish a structure, save for a few exceptions. Even I, an Origin fan, believe the sections are interchangeable and that their order is probably arbitrary. It's evident in the short runtime at barely 26 minutes, the linearity of the compositions, as well as the band sometimes pausing for half a second of complete silence before a new riff begins, likely because no one could figure out a good transition.

Personally, "Echoes of Decimation" had the initial draw to make me listen carefully and remember all songs through and through. But if you are not like me, consider this: if you can't remember any single song beyond a few particularly over the top arpeggios, why not treat the album as one long amorphous piece, and just immerse yourself? For black metal fans the concept of a meditative state through intensity and overall monotony of the music shouldn't be an alien concept. True, black metal is usually repetitive, which "Echoes..." is not, but the point isn't about literal repetition as much as requiring a fairly high attention threshold below which everything blends into one. If memorability is non-negotiable for you, oh well, I tried.

Something about the abstract chromatic riffage invokes strange, unnamed emotions in me, as if gaining profound insight I struggle to process. You'll probably look at me weird if I compare Origin's appeal to the likes of Immolation, Gorguts or Portal. Musically very different bands, but on a macro level, they make cerebral and emotionally ambiguous music. Beyond the instant impression of abrasiveness, they touch reach all something deeper in me. This is my unorthodox and very subjective view. I am not happy about the disturbing similarities to Braindrill, and likely fanbase overlap - I don't want to be lumped together with those guys. At least I can confidently argue that Braindrill is very insistent on its cartoonish excess, while Origin has restraint. That said, I fully realise both are well past most metalheads', or even most death metallers' "trying-too-hard" line. I doubt even one Origin member perceived this record as atmospheric or spiritual, but I'm sure they'd appreciate my enthusiasm.