Origin

This fourth full-length from one of death metal’s most underrated is noteworthy, marking the return of drum hero John Longstreth, who didn’t appear on the band’s last disc. And Longstreth, as always, puts in a great performance, even though it’s a bit more straight-ahead than his usual percussive acrobatics. Still, on tracks like highlight cut "Wrath of Vishnu” and the ultra-progressive "Ubiquitous,” he makes the most of the technical death metal song structures and adds in inventive fills at every available opportunity. The rest of the band put in a solid performance, with the guitarists laying down shred after shred, while the clean production isn’t too processed-sounding, bringing out every player perfectly. The only complaints are those inherent to the genre: familiarity and predictability (ironic, given it’s a genre that takes pride in technical progression). Even then, Origin are making steps to grow past that, such as on the nine-minute closing title track, where epic atmosphere meets violent tech-death crunch.