ORIGIN – Echoes Of Decimation

Echoes of Decimation is the third offering from these Kansas native death grinders, and in it you can find all the main ingredients of a Death Metal release- monster vocals accompanied with brutal, continuous blasts of devastatingly fast beats. On Echoes of Decimation, Origin give you no forewarning, but instead launch on you like an angry bunch of dogs straight from the get go. The death grip they take doesn’t loosen for the entire album.

The cover of Echoes of Decimation gives some kind of clue on what kind monster to expect. It’s not pretty. The furious growling heard here is supported by what could be described as a manic, screeching, hyena-like sidekick. This interesting vocal pairing makes a welcome variety and brings longevity to the entire album.

At first the vocals and the furious beats merge together tightly to make this furious blast of cacophony, but on repeat listens the different nuances start to emerge. “Cloning the Stillborn” and “Debased Humanity” both offer some clear and closer to the mainstream exercises on guitar. “Staring from the Abyss” is the most easily acceptable song on offer in this album. Most of its words can be made out and it can even be said to have some sort of chorus.

On “Designed to Expire,” the cough medicine is obviously starting to take effect, leaving the vocals a bit softer. On the other hand, the spit can be heard spewing during “Cloning the Stillborn,” which starts with a neat “beating of a heart” effect. Each song is filled with fast and furious riffs and breathtakingly fast drumming.

On the track entitled “Amoeba,” the band seems to be fighting with demons and sound like they are desperately trying to get rid of them.

Origin is not inventing the wheel with this album, and doesn’t exactly offer anything new to the genre. They still manage to be imaginative enough, though, even if somewhat repetitive, with the furious sounds they offer and those brutal double (and sometimes triple) vocals bring a nice effect to this short, yet furious, slice of Death Metal.

At under 30 minutes, the apocalyptic ride ends with the unsettling and disturbing sound of wind blowing through what sounds like an open space. What you see portrayed in front of your eyes depends entirely on how vivid and sick your imagination can be. This dark and disturbing trip is definitely not for the weak of heart!