Periphery
– Periphery II
At long freaking last progressive metal Gods Periphery
have finally got their arses into gear and followed
up their phenomenal debut self titled album with
“Periphery II”. The band burst into
the scene when that first release dropped; album
full of twists and turns, intricate guitar work,
thick beats and bass lines, ominous electronic backing
and an impressive range of vocal melodies. I was
recommended to check them out just before it dropped
and was mesmerised to the point where I ran out
and purchased on the day of release. This follow
up though whilst being that very same distinctive
style that has been associated with them is an evil
little bastard.
The vocals on the whole have just skyrocketed in
quality, take track 1 “Muramasa” the
introductory melodies are more ranged and as the
heavy shit kicks in the screamed vocals have much
more depth and a more aggressive sound to them.
They’ve played around with their use of electronic
backing to instead of just adding ominous depth,
add this nasty sinister layer pulling the lighter
sounding melodies and crisper tones down to the
depths of hell before dropping the much more aggressive
tempo and tones set to obliterate mosh pits around
the globe (check “Have a Blast” for
a perfect demonstration). “Facepalm Mute”
just completely smashes it, the chorus alone is
enough to make this my album favourite because it’s
a hauntingly beautiful few lines dotted into the
middle of a progressive heavy metal warzone.
The bands style is so distinctive it’s unreal,
from the first album with the more down tempo songs
(which for Periphery isn’t that much slower)
were more electronic based with harmonious clean
vocals, on this album songs like “Ji”
and “Erised” keep that side of the spectrum
alive, not just alive but thriving as these are
possible just the most beautiful songs from the
bands back catalogue. I completely adored the first
album and never thought I would see the day that
I saw it surpassed, it seems that day is now and
it’s the same band! As strong as that first
album was this one’s just structured and written
that much better it makes it the superior of the
2, not even the best tracks on the first album can
compare to the likes of “Scarlet”, “MAKE
TOTAL DESTROY” and the mighty “Masamune”.
My opinion on exposure is simple; good reviews for
your albums, good reviews on notable support slots
and THEN do headline runs once you have more than
1 albums worth of material, Periphery are on the
back of a huge support slot from Dream Theater,
had fantastic reviews in all music publications,
now have 2 albums and a planned headline run of
the UK. We are all about the see the making of this
band.
5/5
Review by James Webb
Band
Members
Spencer Sotelo
Misha Mansoor
Matt Halpern
Jake Bowen
Mark Holcomb
Adam "Nolly" Getgood
Track
Listing
1. Muramasa
2. Have a Blast
3. Facepalm Mute
4. Ji
5. Scarlet
6. Luck as a Constant
7. Ragnarok
8. The God’s Must Be Crazy!
9. MAKE TOTAL DESTROY
10. Erised
11. Epoch
12. Froggin’ Bullfish
13. Mile Zero
14. Masamune
