Track Listing

1. The Aftermath
2. Algorithm
3. Consuming Misery
4. Wrath Of Vishnu
5. Finite
6. The Appalling
7. Void
8. Ubiquitous
9. The Beyond Within
10. Antithesis

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43866 in Music
• Released on: 2008-04-01
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
One of the most intense and technical of the contemporary death metal bands, ORIGIN has returned to stake their claim as the leaders of metal's new wave of extremity. Antithesis explodes out of the box at breakneck speed, with guitars and bass shredding wildly behind a beastly 3-vocal attack, slowing only for the virtuosic soloing of emerging guitar heroes Paul Ryan and Jeremy Turner. Faster, heavier, and decidedly more advanced than anyone could have ever envisioned the genre becoming, Antithesis is a modern day death metal classic, which proves ORIGIN stand head and shoulders above their peers.

From the Artist
"Origin are such a good band - they're excellent musicians who play at speeds that are hard to comprehend, and with the precision of a brain surgeon." - San Francisco Bay Guardian

About the Artist
Recommended if you like: CANNIBAL CORPSE, MORBID ANGEL, NECROPHAGIST, NILE, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, JOB FOR A COWBOY, BEHEMOTH

Customer Reviews

Modern Day Technical Death Masterpiece
This album is just crushingly brilliant and incredible. I swear, Origin are such an awesome technical death metal band that can play at such sick, wicked, blinding speeds that are extremely hard to comprehend. "Antithesis" is a lightning fast, speaker sharding, eye popping, ear shredding, dive bombing, brutal technical death metal thrillride that will take you on an insane, out of this world ride that you'll never ever forget. I got this album over the summer, and it definately won me over big time, and it's definately a masterpiece at that. This is also one of the best extreme death metal releases of 2008 that I've had the pleasure of listening to as well. The production on this album is excellent, and the musicianship on here is absolutely superb throughout, and the band is definately firing on all cylinders, and this album proves exactly that. James Lee is an awesome vocalist who has a great blend of relentless low growls and frightening high shrieks that can burst right out of the stereo speakers and grab you right by the throat. Guitarists Paul Ryan and Jeremy Turner are in top form on here. The riffs are very fast, thrashy, furious, and battering, and the sweeps are very catchy and wickedly jaw dropping, and yes there are also solos, and memorable ones indeed too. Mike Flores's basswork is just jaw dropping and sick, and he has some great lines and some cool sweeps of his own on here. Drummer John Longstreth is just an absolute animal, as he blasts and barrages his way throughout with rapid-fire, neck snapping blast beats. He also does some great time signature changes as well, and he does an excellent job with the double bass too. The opening track "The Aftermath" (My favorite song, and the reason I bought this cd) immediately without warning gets the album roaring with mad dive bombing riffs and wild blasting blasts beats, and relentless, barraging vocals. I love the lightning fast guitar sweeps that are indeed addicting, and there's also a fantastic solo as well. Actually there's not even one bad song on this album, they're all awesome. "Algorihm" is another blasting bruiser that mercilessly starts off with more of John's insane perfectly timed and propelled skin blasting, and violent, unrelenting, scorching riffs by Paul and Jeremy. "Cosuming Misery" is highlighted by loud, heavy, scorching, battering riffage, and a couple of pounding, marching double bass drum sections. Track four "Wrath of Vishnu" is another favorite song on here that quickly begins with quick battering, machine gun like riffs and more neck snapping skin blasts, which are soon followed by James's insanely, frightening vocals, and at 1:16 there's an epic middle-eastern influenced riff that is just timeless and majestic, and there's also another fantastic guitar solo as well. "Finite" is another highlight which features an addicting hyperspeed opening lead riff, and there's a great guitar sweep section at 1:35 as well, and the ending is great too. "The Beyond Within" is highlighted by more mean intense riffs and ear shredding leads, and more amazing sweeps, and intense vocals from James. The closing title track "Antithesis" is the longest song on the album clocking in at 9:32, and it litterly erupts from the depths and pummels your brain senseless, and there's also and awesome lengthy, spiraling guitar solo at 7:21. An awesome song this truly is, I love it. Please read on for the song ratings.
Jeremy's song ratings:
1. The Aftermath (4:34) - 5/5 My favorite song
2. Algorithm (3:31) - 5/5
3. Consuming Misery (3:56) - 5/5
4. Wrath of Vishnu (4:43) - 5/5
5. Finite (3:08) - 5/5
6. The Apalling (2:54) - 5/5
7. Void (0:39) - 4/5
8. Ubiquitous (5:33) - 5/5
9. The Beyond Within (3:20) - 5/5
10. Antithesis (9:32) - 5/5

I definately must say that after listening to "Antithesis", I definately have to say that this is truly one of the best extreme death metal albums of 2008 hands down, and it also proves the Origin are indeed at the top of their game and they're better than ever before. Overall, if you're a serious death metal fan like myself, then "Antithesis" is an album that should NEVER be ignored whatsover, it's that good believe me. Buy this album now, and brace yourself for one serious thrillride. Enjoy!!

(4.5 stars) The album Origin have been trying to make their whole career
As has become more apparent in recent years, extreme metal bands can come from literally any corner of this toilet earth. In fact, there are so many of them on the market today that it is impossible to keep up with all of them, and the countries they come from. And although it's safe to say that the countries located to the east of the Atlantic take up the lion's share of the attention (namely Sweden and other Scandinavian countries), one would be pathetically mistaken to discount or overlook the United States just yet. One such case in point is one very special band that hails from Topeka, Kansas (where, by the way, zip codes begin with the numbers 666 - you just can't get more metal than that!) named Origin. And, in addition to having a locale in the U.S.A.'s heartland, this quintet's sound could also not be more American because they stay close to home when looking for inspiration. (Their main influences are from the likes of Cephalic Carnage, Dying Fetus, and Suffocation.) As a result, Origin's renowned death-grind assault is an insanely fast, technical, tight, and brutal one. And, in this day and age, it also sounds fairly novel and refreshing.

It feels almost redundant to say because any well-versed metalhead will find it obvious, but the musicianship heard on "Antithesis," Origin's fifth and newest record, is nothing short of incredible. After nearly a decade of existence, the band is now, finally, firing on all cylinders, and as a result, they sound like an extremely well-oiled machine. John Longstreth cements his status as just about unparalleled by any other drummer on the metal scene today. He drives the beast forward with truly impeccable, explosive, pummeling, lightning fast blast beats that spit sparks and debris like shrapnel. In other words, he is the audio equivalent of The Energizer Bunny...on amphetamines! And while Longstreth's style of drumming has all the nuance of a two-by-four to the skull, his playing is always impossibly tight and precise, so it manages to retain a certain level of finesse.

The guitarists are also in fine form here, as their guitar work has never sounded so intricate. It is safe to say they have mastered the arts of technical, thrashy riffing, rip-roaring leads, blistering tremolo picking, fluid sweep picking, and occasional pinch harmonics. And not only that, but they've also learned how to create guitar solos - and really memorable ones, too. Elsewhere, frontman Paul Ryan turns in a noteworthy performance, as well - his Deicide-worthy array of growls, screams, and bellows is powerful, visceral, vitriolic, and just plain wicked! Finally, the icing on the cake is bassist Mike Flores, whose instrument is much louder in the mix this time around. He comes up with surprisingly interesting and memorable bass parts that make sure the rhythm section is rock solid.

But instrumental prowess will only get you so far - no matter how friggin' amazing it is!. Well, that's not a problem here, either, folks. See, unlike, say, 2005's disappointing "Echoes of Decimation" (Origin's last release), this record adds quite a bit of substance to its style. For starters, the arrangements are tempered with some undeniable moments of melody, but it is done in a way as to avoid any annoying Swede-inspired cliches. Furthermore, there is an abundance of honest-to-goodness hooks, fairly accessible song structures (including some actual choruses!), groove, tempo variation (i.e. some breakdowns and other slow/er passages to add texture and contrast), ear-snagging guitar riffs (opposed to just one, long wall of guitar noise), and -- get this! -- standout tracks and songs with memorable parts.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, "Antithesis" possesses one last attribute (which makes it a huge step forward for the band): a little, intangible thing called "feeling." These ten songs cut deep; they send off wave after wave of furious energy and palpable intensity. The face-ripping set opener, "The Aftermath," engulfs the listener's eardrums with a flash flood of frenetic, scalding riffage, grinding, "rat-tat-tat" machine gun blasts, and thunderous rhythms. Some strong bass work (i.e. a grumbling bass bottom and a split-second interlude/solo), a mid-tempo, chugging breakdown, and a nice, Necrophagist-esque clean solo are also tucked into the mix here. "Algorithm" continues down that song's same path, and, thanks to a brief but wild, shredding guitar solo and nonstop hyper-kinetic, skull-splitting drumming, it completes the album's beginning one-two punch knockout.

The next two songs might darn well be the catchiest Origin have ever written. Both of which are backed by irresistibly hooky, crunching, lock-step staccato rhythms that will be almost impossible not to headbang along with. Plus, the former tune, "Consuming Misery," also has interesting, slap bass lines; and the latter, "Wrath of Vishnu," features a frantic, pummeling, stop-start drum intro and awesome, ripping, and even borderline wailing guitar solo that gives Nile a run for their money in the bluesy, Middle Eastern-influenced metal department. Next up is "Finite," a disorienting, head-spinning, uber-fast blur of dissonance reminiscent of Psyopus. "Void," an futuristic, mildly bone-chilling interlude, is another standout, as is "The Beyond Within," which begins with a jackhammer-fast rhythm that falls from the sky like a ton of bricks before abruptly doing a 360 degree turn and trafficking in a quiet, restrained passage complete with interesting, slapped bass lines.
But the set-closing title track is the indisputably biggest highlight to be found on the album. In fact, it is also, by far, Origin's most intricate, expansive, infectious, and flat-out mind-blowing piece of work to date, and an absolutely must hear. It is a stunning, epically epic, infectious, innovative, nine-and-a-half-minute-long maze through effective groove-oriented parts, haunting ambience, swift guitar sweeps, stellar melodic soloing, and occasional black metal tendencies.

Let it be known that "Antithesis" isn't really, well, an "antithesis" per say, because it doesn't mark a drastic change of sound or direction for Origin. What it certainly does do, though, is deliver on the promise of all of their previous releases. It sounds like the band you've always known...but now they are substantially even better than before. As such, it is very much up for debate if this record will gather much attention from anybody who isn't already a fan. Plus, some listeners (especially first-timers) will find the Kansas-based quintet's music to be a bit unusual and overwhelming. But regardless of comparisons to previous works, "Antithesis" is, at the very least, a brutal, exhilarating, and accomplished affair, an early juggernaut for death-grind in 2008, and a great case for why you would be sadly mistaken to overlook or write-off American extreme metal just yet.

For anyone who says death metal isn't hard to play...
...just give this a listen. If you're one of those people who think metal is nothing but a bunch of hairy guys wailing away on their instruments, this album will change your mind.

I'm not normally into this kind of technical death metal. There comes a time when the band just starts to focus too much on speed and not enough on originality or soul (I'm looking at you, Braindrill). But Origin are a band who seem to know where to draw the line.

There's all kinds of crazy time shifts and ridiculously fast playing all around (even from the bassist!). But there's also a surprising amount of melody in these songs, which helps the listener to distinguish one from another. The biggest complaint most people have with death metal is how monotonous it is. This is something Origin seem to have worked on, because every song sounds like them, but they don't all sound exactly the same. There's not any Between the Buried and Me-esque experimentation, it's just precise and speedy playing. I think it's also worth noting that the production is pretty much perfect for this kind of music. The vocals are back far enough in the mix so that they don't dominate the songs, and every instrument is audible and balanced.

If you don't like tech-death, you might be a little wary. But otherwise, this is some quality music.