Origin @ Ultra Violet Social Club
Guitarist Paul Ryan writes Origin‘s records, but he doesn’t listen to them. He cites two reasons. The first is that common musician’s complaint: recording is so draining that one wants nothing to do with the result. The second: playing live is so much better. He may be right about the first, but he’s definitely right about the second.
I’ve seen Origin play three times. The first was mind-melting. Origin live is a full-on assault by every instrument. Many metal bands attempt this, but few truly take it over the top like Origin. Bassist Mike Flores makes Les Claypool sound like Adam Clayton. If the bass interludes in Seinfeld became a death metal band, it would be Origin.
But it’s not funny stuff. This was clear the second time I saw Origin. My jaw was on the floor the whole time. Drummer John Longstreth projected both power and groove with blastbeats all the way to the balcony where I stood. (The only other drummer I’ve seen who can make blastbeats groove is Pete Sandoval.) While his bandmates have lived mostly in the Midwest, Ryan lives in San Francisco. I asked him why he doesn’t just find a drummer there. He said that Longstreth was “the guy”: the musical companion one doesn’t have to tell what to play.
“Staring from the Abyss”
[audio: ORIGIN_STARING.mp3]
This was clear when I saw Origin last week. Ultra Violet Social Club is roomy – it’s like an industrial ski lodge – so the crowd spread out, and I could watch Longstreth up close. At any given time, several people stood stage left with mouths agape just watching him play. Sure, Longstreth is fast. But what makes him special is his rhythms. That might sound strange, since he’s a drummer. But in the high-BPM world of technical death metal, precious few drummers have a sense of rhythm: the ability to create accents and meaning in the blur of blastbeats.
Longstreth does and Longstreth did, plating riffs with armor of rides and crashes. This was no small feat, given that Flores was melting strings with his fingers, and Ryan’s tone was so serrated, it was practically a saw blade. Sweep picking is usually delicate, but Ryan threw down insistent, angry arpeggios. Add an enthusiastic new vocalist named Mica “Maniac” who kept up at a million miles an hour, and the result was like Origin’s album covers: astronomical. I closed my eyes and felt like galaxies were exploding in my head.
. . .
ORIGIN – SUMMER TOUR 2010
Remaining US, EU dates
23.07 Canopy Club – Urbana, IL
24.07 Phoenix Hill Tavern – Louisville, KY
25.07 FuBar (w/Malevolent Creation, Misery Index, All Will Fall) – St. Louis, MO
31.07 Stonehenge Fest – Steenwijk, DK
13.08 Party.San Open Air Festival – Bad Berka, DE
14.08 Brutal Assault Festival – Jaromer, CZ
15.08 Ieper Fest – Ieper, BE
16.08 Matrix – Bochum, DE
17.08 Garage – Saarbrücken, DE
19.08 Szene – Wien, AT
20.08 Summer Breeze Outdoor Festival – Dinkelsbühl, DE
21.08 Mountains of Death – Muotathal, CH
. . .
