While certainly death metal in 2008 is on the upswing with releases by Brain Drill, Decrepit Birth, and Hate Eternal, the fact is death metal is still just death metal. However, Origin, after four albums of complex yet relatively singular and forgetful speed, have now fully embraced and developed songwriting chops hinted ever-so-slightly on 2006’s [...]

I don’t go to many shows being that I live in rural Central Missouri. So when the mighty Origin somehow got booked to play 30 minutes from my hometown in Columbia, Missouri I had to go. Not only for this interview but to witness arguably the most intense band around in a live setting. I was curious to see how the technical maelstrom of Origin translated live. Needless to say, even with a pain faced, triggerless James King, limited space and a relatively small (surprisingly female heavy) crowd, watching the eclectic racial mix of Origin perform live is a sight to behold. Particularly noteworthy are diminutive but always grinning bassist Mike Flores and guitarist Paul Ryan who literally mesmerized me with their fingers. After metalcore openers River Runs Red and local death metal act Omichron, I caught up with Paul Ryan to dig deeper into Origin…..

For some reason, Kansas’s Origin seems to be one of those bands the metal community has singled out for a rather undeserved level of internet harassment. Sure, on their self-titled debut they were a mindless vortex of speed, but on follow up Informis, Infinitas, Inhumanitas, I really thought the band improved and focused somewhat although [...]

“Anyone who isn’t dead or from another plane of existence, would do well to cover their ears, right about now.”
This superbly appropriate sample from the move “Dogma,” opens the song “Inhuman,” on Origin’s second album, Informis, Infinitas, Inhumanitas. Never has a sample been so fitting. I’ll be the first to tell you, I wasn’t impressed [...]