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Origin - Omnipresent review



Reviewer:
N/A

74 users:
7.66
Band: Origin
Album: Omnipresent
Release date: July 2014


01. All Things Dead
02. Thrall:Fulcrum:Apex
03. Permanence
04. Manifest Desolate
05. Absurdity Of What I Am
06. Source Of Icon O
07. Continuum
08. Unattainable Zero
09. Redistribution Of Filth
10. Obsolescence
11. Malthusian Collapse
12. The Indiscriminate
13. Kill Yourself [S.O.D. cover]

Anyone play soccer or some other sport as a kid? Remember when the team went to the pizza restaurant after the game, and when the kiddies got bored they sat there and poured anything they could find on the table into one horrifying concoction? The salt, the pepper, the ice cream, maybe spit in the drink a bit for good measure.


Unfortunately, a lot of the time listening to Origin's Omnipresent can be equated to chugging down one of those disgusting mixtures. On their own, each ingredient in that drink has a purpose (well, maybe not the spit), but if you try and cram it all together at once it isn't so pleasant. When this album tries to cram completely in-your-face blastbeats and frantic guitar lines that mix rapid picking and noodling sweep mayhem down your throat it can just feel like too much.

Then again, the album slows down (in relative terms, it's all still pretty fast paced) at times and it turns out there are some cool riffs there and songs that you can get into the flow of. From a rhythmic point of view a song like "Manifest Desolate" gives more room for the guitar work to breathe, and is one of the more interesting tracks as a result. At the best points on this album, all the instruments gel in a way that isn't totally overwhelming. There are some good moments of otherworldly and strange guitar lines which actually sound unique as well. The short length of the album (a little over 30 minutes) is also a plus, as dragging an album like this out much longer would not be helping it any.

Clearly, based on the content of this and the previous Origin albums, these guys are very talented musicians. Performing the sweep picked arpeggios and blasting out beats at the tempos these songs go along at is not easy. The problem is, that extremely high level of talent doesn't always translate into great songwriting. Sometimes it just seems like mayhem for mayhem's sake, and at those times it's hard to care much about Omnipresent. It makes for an album which isn't always so memorable either.

The final word - Origin fans should probably be satisfied with this. Not much has changed since 2011's Entity. I'll admit that implementing a high degree of technicality into memorable and concisely written songs is no easy task. Omnipresent, despite some great moments, just seems too intent on stuffing too much down your throat at once to accomplish it fully.

Written by Mattybu | 30.07.2014




Comments

Comments: 15   Visited by: 212 users
30.07.2014 - 19:53
Rating: 6
Ilham
Giant robot
Wha? You were a weird kid. When we went for pizza after volley practice we just ate pizza. We didn't trash the place.

But yeah sure. Forgettable album.
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30.07.2014 - 20:01
Mattybu

Written by Ilham on 30.07.2014 at 19:53

Wha? You were a weird kid. When we went for pizza after volley practice we just ate pizza. We didn't trash the place.

But yeah sure. Forgettable album.


Maybe it's a Canadian phenomenon. Me and the rest of the dumbasses on my sports teams did it when I was younger, as did my brother's. It takes a while for the restaurant to sort out 15 different bills at the end of the meal, and the boredom leads to nasty drink-making.

It definitely is a rather forgettable album, but recalling my listening to their 2011 album Entity, it isn't much different sounding.... So I guess the fans will at least be happy. Not that I remember a whole lot about Entity either.
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30.07.2014 - 20:09
Rating: 6
Ilham
Giant robot
I actually liked it enough when they made it available for streaming a month ago. It was the first time I listened to Origin in years. But I went back to Echoes and Antithesis, and listened to this again, and I formed a much less positive opinion on it.
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30.07.2014 - 20:15
Mattybu

I tried to find some good in this album and hopefully my review didn't come off as too negative cause there was some good there. But I have been listening to a lot of tech-death lately and in comparison to the stuff that I really like this didn't do much for me.
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31.07.2014 - 03:17
Lit.
Account deleted
Is the S.O.D. cover worth checking out?
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31.07.2014 - 03:26
Mattybu

Written by Guest on 31.07.2014 at 03:17

Is the S.O.D. cover worth checking out?


It wasn't in the version of the album I listened to. If you can find it somewhere the most you have to lose is 2 minutes of your time, I guess.
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31.07.2014 - 03:31
wormdrink414

Written by Mattybu on 30.07.2014 at 20:01

Maybe it's a Canadian phenomenon.

Nah, we did it here too. Thing is, we do it into adulthood at bars and stuff. All of us do.
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31.07.2014 - 03:34
Mattybu

Written by wormdrink414 on 31.07.2014 at 03:31

Nah, we did it here too. Thing is, we do it into adulthood at bars and stuff. All of us do.


I knew it was a real thing. There's usually someone stupid brave enough to drink some of it as well.
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31.07.2014 - 07:12
-Morbid-

Written by Mattybu on 30.07.2014 at 20:15

I tried to find some good in this album and hopefully my review didn't come off as too negative cause there was some good there.

If I'm honest, the first paragraph and first sentence of the second paragraph sounded very harsh, to the point it kinda got me thinking "oh good, another one of these guys that dislikes the genre/band using a review to take a stab at it/them." After that though, the rest of the review was good and fair I think.

While I don't agree that it is similar to drinking something disgusting, I understand the criticisms and in some cases agree. This album also sounds a little different to me than the previous two in that it seems a little less "weedily weedily" and a bit more "chugga chuggy" (if that makes any sense), but nonetheless it does sound like an Origin album.

There are only a few memorable parts on the album (less than the previous two have had in my opinion), and I'm not a fan of short songs usually, although I do find the short overall album length works here. I guess for me, the album is greater than the sum of its parts, or in this case the sum of its songs, as when it's playing I actually find it quite enjoyable and am pleased with my purchase.

Written by Guest on 31.07.2014 at 03:17

Is the S.O.D. cover worth checking out?

It seems everyone has different standards for covers so it's really hard to say. For whatever it's worth, I enjoyed it, but I also generally find cover songs to be... "fun" I guess is the word, so maybe my standards are a little low.
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31.07.2014 - 16:31
TrollandDie

I don't think it's eating a horrifying concoction, as much as it is downing one of those ungodly-spicy chili peppers: alright in small doses for zest, but the whole thing is overwelming to the point of dis-taste.
----
Hello, my name is Mr......Snrub and I think it would be a capital idea to invest the money back in the nuclear plant.
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01.08.2014 - 01:37
Mattybu

Written by TrollandDie on 31.07.2014 at 16:31

I don't think it's eating a horrifying concoction, as much as it is downing one of those ungodly-spicy chili peppers: alright in small doses for zest, but the whole thing is overwelming to the point of dis-taste.


Yeah, I get what you're saying. Sometimes the songs just throw everything at once a little too much though. Hyper sweep-picking + completely turbo speed in your face blast beat + vocalist going macho all at once kind of ruins the effect for me. If they could implement all these elements separately or more subtly I think I'd like this more.


And @Morbid: I do agree from my somewhat foggy impressions of Entity that there is a bit more chugging as opposed to squeedily deedily type guitar work, not that there isn't any of that left, still lots. Which is a welcome change, although all in all I think Origin's songwriting in general doesn't match up to their very, very high level of talent.
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01.08.2014 - 02:42
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
My 15 year old son still mixes different brands of soda pop at the soda pop fountains. Yuck. Nice review - thanks.
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rekt
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01.08.2014 - 02:48
Rating: 6
Ilham
Giant robot
<Rant about how I value food because I grew up in a poor country>

I think more comments on this page are due to this analogy than to the actual album. Goes to show how interesting it is.
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01.08.2014 - 02:52
TrollandDie

Written by tea[m]ster on 01.08.2014 at 02:42

My 15 year old son still mixes different brands of soda pop at the soda pop fountains. Yuck. Nice review - thanks.




I remember doing that when in the states several years ago. I can't help it; the amount of vendor freedom at In'N'Out burger is just too much.
----
Hello, my name is Mr......Snrub and I think it would be a capital idea to invest the money back in the nuclear plant.
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03.08.2014 - 10:03
Evil Chip

Written by Ilham on 01.08.2014 at 02:48

<Rant about how I value food because I grew up in a poor country>


<Insert angrier rant because of growing up in a poorer country>
Anyways, I didn't know you guys where so much into sports. The only sport I did as a kid was ping pong.
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