Periphery - Periphery
Rating
RIYL
MeshuggahBetween the Buried and Me
Hopesfall
Release Date
04/20/2010
Label
SumerianTracklist
1. Insomnia2. The Walk
3. Letter Experiment
4. Jetpacks Was Yes!
5. Light
6. All New Materials
7. Buttersnips
8. Icarus Lives!
9. Totla Mad
10. Ow My Feelings
11. Zyglrox
12. Racecar
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Hype – everyone is aware of this phenomenon. A stirring of atmospheric expectations associated with a certain product about to be released upon the public body. In the music world, hype can make or break a band, usually either serving as a launching pad to popular acclaim or acting as a cold, demoralizing wall of expectations that were failed to be met. Who is the most recent band to be swept up in the furious winds of hype? Enter Periphery and their debut album, Periphery.
Since the band’s formation in 2005 by founder Misha Mansoor, Periphery has been riddled with inconsistency in their line-up, accumulating five former members to this day - three of them being vocalists. During this time of uncertainty, the remnants of Periphery, primarily chief songwriter and lead guitarist Mansoor (also recognized by the stage name of “Bulb”) continued to formulate and perfect musical pieces in their angular, technical, Meshuggah-esque vein, while additionally keeping fans updated on the band’s evolution by maintaining an online presence. Needless to say, five years have passed since Periphery’s formation and an official release had not been conceived – until now.
Armed with a new lead singer, Periphery have taken their musical muscles and flexed, culminating in an adventure of an album, weighing in at an overwhelming 72 minutes. However, is their self-titled album strong enough to answer the overwhelming hype? Fortunately for Periphery, the answer is a resounding yes.
Their debut begins on a memorable note with “Insomnia” and “The Walk.” This coupling of songs showcases Periphery’s musical dexterity. The former assaults the listener with pummeling chugs, yet hints at their melodic tendencies, while the latter detracts from prettiness and reveals the ugly, aggressive face of the band as “The Walk” rips the listener’s jaw off and violently throws it to the floor, where the band wants you to think it belongs. Rather than suffocating their music with relentless heaviness, Periphery does a sound job of creating a familiar atmosphere throughout the majority of their songs. These soundscapes are shaped either as prefaces to a song or tail towards the end of a piece, providing a spacey transition before the next slab of cathartic metal and thus allowing the album to flow rather effortlessly.
One of the main concerns of fans approaching this album was the addition of vocalist Spencer Sotelo. Many were unsure of his capabilities and were anxious to discover whether his voice would complement the band’s complex music. After listening to “Light” and “Zyglrox” fans of Periphery can rest assured that Sotelo can hold his own. On “Light” Sotelo is at his melodic apex. The song features soaring melodies that pepper the piece and serve as evidence that Spencer is capable of an angelic croon which supplements the more aggressive aspects of Periphery’smusic. On the other hand, with “Zyglrox,” Sotelo is simply ferocious. His growling delves lower than anywhere else on the album and his screaming in general matches the chaotic intensity that saturates the song. Sotelo was clearly the missing piece the band has been searching for and Periphery are all the better for acquiring him.
After five years, the hype had been mounting. Periphery was up against a wall of mammoth expectations and, suffice it to say, while the album may be a little longwinded, they definitely delivered. “Racecar” serves as a fitting and epic conclusion to the album in part to its 15 minute length and because the song summarizes what Periphery has set out to accomplish all this time - blending the beautiful with the hideous while living up to the hype that was bestowed upon them. Periphery: 1, Disappointment: 0.
--Josh Velliquette
Comments
Fishers, Indiana
I hadn't heard of this band until the album dropped. I had no idea five years of uncertainty had fed into this release.
It's solid as hell, though I feel a little guilty listening to some of the sung parts. At times they sound Thricey, as in Jetpacks Was Yes!; other times they sound remarkably "scene," similar to A Skylit Drive, and I suddenly don't want to share the album with my friends who are into heavier shit.
Definitely an awesome first album, though. Hell, this would be an awesome fourth album for some bands.
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Fishers, Indiana
Shittastic album art, however.
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Minnesota
I really love this album, but I have to disagree with you on one thing--I think Sotelo is probably the weakest link for the band. He does a decent job with the vocals, but at times I feel like he doesn't quite fit in with the band's sound. Still... solid f'ing album!
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Coopersburg, PA
Great review, Josh. This is definitely a fantastic album, I agree with Rick that vocals don't quite fit at times, particularly the clean singing parts, but I'd rather it be like that instead of just screaming the whole time - helps to mix it up at least. The album art is god awful though, very nu-metal.
Minnesota
You say that like nu-metal is a bad thing... :-)
Find me EVERYWHERE:
Coopersburg, PA
Hahaha, well I meant it more like it's misleading because they're not a nu-metal band. In general though, nu-metal is a very bad thing, haha.
New York
Thanks for the kind words. Yeah, I agree with you two to an extent. At first, I wasn't too pleased with the vocals at all. However, the more I have been listening to this album, the more the vocals- both clean and harsh- seem to fit. Could they be better? Yeah, but what Periphery has right now seems to be working.
"If this is the state of my art,
Then I secede."
New York
Agreed. You just can't judge a book by its cover.
"If this is the state of my art,
Then I secede."
Coopersburg, PA
Josh, could you explain why you have Hopesfall in the RIYL section? I understand BBTAM and Meshuggah, but I can't make the connection to Hopesfall, so I'm curious what similarities you hear.
New York
Yeah, totally. When listening to this album, a major component of the music was the atmosphere. This was created in large part thanks to the many intros/outros featured on the beginning and end of each song. This immediately made me think of Hopesfall's The Satellite Years, in large part due to the spacey atmosphere both albums share. Could this be a bit of a stretch, sure, but other than their overwhelming Meshuggah resemblance, strip that away and I feel as if both of these bands share some distinct similarities.
"If this is the state of my art,
Then I secede."
Coopersburg, PA
Gotcha, that makes sense to me. I was thinking you meant the more recent Hopesfall albums, but I can see the atmospheric resemblances between their older material and this release. Thanks for the explanation.
New York
No problem!
"If this is the state of my art,
Then I secede."
Baltimore, MD
Not my cup of tea
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Dubuque
I'll have to check this disc out. Aaron's been ranting about it.
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Infinitely Inwards
AOTY...by far....so far.
Ever Forthright - Ever Forthright
Fallujah - The Harvest Wombs
The New Law - The Fifty Year Storm
The Mars Volta - Noqtourniqet
Aborted - Global Flatline
Spawn of Possession - Incurso
Crippled Black Phoenix - (Mankind)The Crafty Ape
PA
Awesome cd. Grew on me a lot.
Music Blog.
Depths blog. (my band)
Raleigh, NC
This is the only album I've heard in my time here at the site that I've considered giving a five. I don't know if I would take that step, but it's easily a 4.5, and I have no issue coming to that conclusion. Also, Chris, nice avatar. Hahaha.
I'd love to review this album on my own, because I HATED this band before I heard this album. I hated the hype, I hated the praise, I hated everything about them, and when "Insomnia" kicked in and the drums changed about :20 seconds in, I was like, "Wait a second. Holy BALLS." Awesome, awesome stuff.
Also, the KILLER solos on Racecar and Totla Mad, by Jeff Loomis and Nolly, respectively, should be noted. Amazing stuff.
New York
Definitely. I wasn't a fan of "Icarus Lives!" until I listened to it for about the fifth time, then something clicked. This then led me to check out their album.
"If this is the state of my art,
Then I secede."
Dallas, TX
I agree Cody I could also give this album a 5, I think if anything its as close to perfect as it possibly could be.
I had checked out several of the demos way before the album came, partly because of the hype surrounding Bulb and everything that he posted, but when this album came out it was a totally new experience. Every song sounded fresh and perfected.
Overall I think the album is amazing and just keeps getting better with each listen. There's so much going on in it that I can see myself listening for a long time.
Definitely a possibility for AOTY for me. I will have to see later if it holds up against Minus the Bear which is currently sounding reallll good.
Minneapolis, MN
Finally got around to listening to Periphery. It's not something that immediately clicked with me, but I could see how it might grow on you.
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Infinitely Inwards
It will grow on you... it's quite technical and layered so the music presents itself in waves. I hope you like it more after multiple listens. BTW, I think the RIYL is slightly off. The Meshuggah and Hopesfall influences are over-apparent but I don't see much BTBAM influence other than the fact that they are both prog metal from the east coast. I'd say Meshuggah, Sikth, Misery Signals, and Animals As Leaders are the most apparent likenesses. 3 of those bands use 8 string guitars in very technical manners. Just my opinion though, could sound different to others i guess.
Ever Forthright - Ever Forthright
Fallujah - The Harvest Wombs
The New Law - The Fifty Year Storm
The Mars Volta - Noqtourniqet
Aborted - Global Flatline
Spawn of Possession - Incurso
Crippled Black Phoenix - (Mankind)The Crafty Ape
New York
I can understand what you mean about the RIYL. It's never going to please everyone. The reason I suggested BTBAM is due to the fact that both bands demonstrate that they are able to play rather technical metal, interject their beat-downs with melodic passages, use similar song structures and both play a semi-unique brand of progressive metal. I hope that gives you at least a better understanding of why I selected them.
"If this is the state of my art,
Then I secede."
PA
RIYL is kind of difficult for this band. Remember, it is for fans who LIKE those other bands. If it were what this band all sounds like it would be Meshuggah, Pulse Ultra, and Sky Eats Airplane haha. Then again...that MIGHT work.
Music Blog.
Depths blog. (my band)
Infinitely Inwards
Wow, don't know why that didn't post....anyway
I hope that my statement wasn't considered as derogatory, Josh; because when concerning the review i agree completely. This album is one of my favorite (like top 10 all time favorite) albums, so I am just glad that someone gave the review it deserved instead of someone hatin' on it because of the hype or vocals.
Chris, considering bands like Tesseract, AAL, Chimp Spanner, Textures, The Safety Fire, Seven, Neosis and other "djent" styled prog metal bands that warrant a comparison to periphery, you go and choose Pulse Ultra....You crazy, son. I do see the Sky Eats Airplane influence, obviously because they share a previous member.
Ever Forthright - Ever Forthright
Fallujah - The Harvest Wombs
The New Law - The Fifty Year Storm
The Mars Volta - Noqtourniqet
Aborted - Global Flatline
Spawn of Possession - Incurso
Crippled Black Phoenix - (Mankind)The Crafty Ape
Edmonton, AB
Love the vocals, I think they are perfect. This album just works for me in every way, it flies by so quickly, I had to do a double take when i read it was 74 minutes long. I really thought it was more like 45. Just a fantastic effort by Periphery.