Band has to keep trying new things. Consistency is so overrated in music. When I was in high school and part of college, Dark Tranquility was like my FAVORITE band. The Gallery has to be one of my favorite albums ever...
But what happened? They got experimental, released Projector, frothing fans went apeshit, and after doing it a little more (to much success) on Haven, they've released THREE albums that sound exactly the same, and sound exactly like what their bread and butter fans wanted. It's so fucking gross. There's nothing worse than a talented band rehashing a shadow of their older sound over and over. And a lot of fans eat that shit up. You'll hear DT fans say WAOW FICTION WUZ PERFECT! in order to justify the same album being released for the third time.
DT is just an example... a great band will take risks to piss its fans off in order to keep their music fresh and new ideas coming. Metalheads are always overly concerned with bands selling out, when the real threat to good music is stagnation.
And this isn't a dig at those who didn't like Origin (ahehe), I think it's normal to dislike x or y album. I'm just saying, even if you didn't like Origin, it's great for the band that they did it. From it they learned something, and when they release an album more to the liking of their more black metal-inclined fans it will be all the better for it.
I'm not taking a super optimistic approach, don't get me wrong. It's one thing if a band releases a shitty album, then it's debatable whether or not it contributes anything to the band's evolution. But say, and this again is just an example, Origin is marvelously produced and much thought went into it. So you live, you learn. Their next album will kick total ass, that's all I know. Origin will have a part in that, you'll see (hear?)!