ORIGIN’s fifth full-length studio album, ‘Entity,’ has a few elements that differentiate from their previous efforts. I’m not entirely sure which aspect to focus on first, so I’ll start with the fact that all of the vocals are provided by Paul Ryan (guitarist) and Mike Flores (bassist). While these two string-shredders have provided backing vocals for all of their material that people have (hopefully) become very familiar with, this was a surprise for me–and the majority of their fans will probably have the same reaction. The fact that these two can pull this off on an album almost makes me want to see what they can do on their own live, but that’s asking a bit much. For instance, their back-and-forth dueling guttural/growling contributions @:45 on “Conceiving Death” gave me chills. Their new front-man, Jason Keyser (formerly of Skinless) will take over main vocal responsibilities for their upcoming tour with Hate Eternal, Vital Remains, and Abysmal Dawn.
The mixing/mastering of this album is top-shelf as well. Flores really stands out on a few key moments, emphasizing his superior bass playing skills (anyone who has seen this band live spends at least half of the show just watching him). Longstreth’s percussion skills are undoubtedly one of the best in the metal drumming industry, and you can hear every “ting” of every cymbal, every blast beat, every bass drum kick–everything. Paul Ryan’s shredding is also incorporated in his phenomenal ability to solo and flat-out riff with the best of ‘em. This band consists of three of the best musicians in metal, and this album is going to gain them an ass-load of fans just based on the wide range of styles portrayed on “Entity.” I’ll say it again, the production of “Entity” is superb.
Musically, this album introduces a lot of new aspects to ORIGIN’s playing styles. The song “Consequence of Solution” is a seven-minute-long conjunction of everything from their signature style plus a few aspects into which they incorporated more influential structures. There’s also a wailing guitar interlude bridging the first and second half of this monstrous track that would make Yngwie Malmsteen want to take lessons. “The Descent” is directly in the middle of the album and kind of acts like an intermission, giving listeners a minute and a half to catch their breath. “Committed” (which I’ve listened to seven times in a row, now, seriously), opens with a style that is almost hard to pin-point. About 30 seconds into the track, you’ll look at your mp3/cd/record player and think to yourself , “Where the Hell did this come from?!” before starting the track over and turning the volume up a few levels.
For people who have ever stuck their nose up at ORIGIN, saying all they do is play as fast as possible with no diversity in any of their songs (yes, I have heard this from several people, sadly), this is going to make all of those naysayers eat their words. ”Entity” is going to be the album that lands ORIGIN a spot in the “This album still rules, after 20 years” category.
“Entity” is available through Nuclear Blast Records.
Catch ORIGIN on their upcoming US tour.
Buy this album. Support this band. Grind.
