Rating: 8.4

Country: USA

Release Date: 2005

Record Label: Relapse Records

Track list:
1. Reciprocal
2. Endless Cure
3. The Burner [MP3]
4. Designed To Expire
5. Cloning The Stillborn
6. Staring From The Abyss [MP3]
7. Amoeba
8. Debased Humanity
9. Echoes Of Decimation

Total playing time: 26:30

Band Website: Origin

Origin - Echoes of Damnation

James Lee - Vocals
Paul Ryan - Guitar, Vocals
Clinton Appelhanz - Guitar, Vocals
Mike Flores - Bass
James King - Drums

The title of Origin's third album is a knowing wink at those shellshocked by 'Informis Infinitas Inhumanitas'. The three-pronged vocal attack, super-heavy guitars that hacked and cauterised in the blink of an eye and percussion that took drumming to a new level of extremity created a sensory overload for some and an unforgettable experience for others. The sheer velocity, relentless malevolence and tightness of the delivery was alarming and it would have been a tragedy if Origin had disbanded.

Apart from some improvement in the overall production (the guitars and bass have more presence this time), Origin reborn as 'Echoes of Decimation' smacks of compromise. It reaches out more to those that couldn't cope with the previous album by stripping down its elements, injecting some fluidity and, by and large, replacing chaotic passages and subtle dissonant chordplay with conventional malevolent tremolo-picked melody. However, listenability and compromise on the Origin scale still means utterly brutal by any other standard. This is ridiculously fast (apart from the more laid back "Staring from the Abyss") and is even more full of gravity blasts and percussive vocals than before.

One of the key differences is the slight relaxation in drumming style. The militaristic note-for-note bombardment (still evident in "Reciprocal" and "Staring from the Abyss") has been slackened selectively to allow grooves and melody to permeate (such as the end of "Endless Cure"). The major difference is the repeated use of descending and ascending sweep picking to accentuate a sense of space and add colour. It could be argued that this technique is overused during "Echoes of Decimation" but it can be very effective as a sequence of sweeps forming a depraved melody (for example, the end of "Cloning the Stillborn"), especially when the vocals change register with the riff changes. However, "Debased Humanity" has a black hole in it with gravity blasts being combined with harmonised sweeps and very little else; 'nature abhors a vacuum' and so do extreme metal fans!

Highlights include the feverish "Amoeba" (with its scampering agitation collapsing into a turmoil of hyperspeed bludgeoning) and "The Burner" (where macabre harmonised riffage is reprised under ferocious drumming). The title track is the best, including the ominous crushing chords during the album's most ambient moment. That said, the pinnacle of Origin's songwriting continues to be "Portal" from the second album, and those nodding in agreement will probably miss the palpitations that 'Informis Infinitas Inhumanitas' gave them.

May 20th, 2005