PERIPHERY

I've been Jitterbugged by Djent!

After years (and years) of waiting and wading through multiple vocalists until settling on Spencer Sotello as the pipes to lead the band, Periphery's debut has FINALLY been released. A spectacular show of heavy metal chops and progressive bombardment, this album is a great addition to any heavy tech metal fan. I was familiar with many of the songs from Misha Mansoor (Bulb)'s sounclick, and it was nice to hear vocals on them, many of the lyrics having great messages behind them as well.

Insomnia is a good opener, with spectacular attack and steady rhythms. The song really fleshes out Periphery's signature metalcore/deathcore/progmetalcore/epiccore sound with Mansoor's great djenting guitar and Sotelo's surprisingly great vocal capacity.

The Walk is one of my favorite tracks on the album. It has an awesome intro, and a (again) steady rhythm with that powerful djent that is attributed to Periphery.

The Letter Experiment might takes a small amount of time to really get into the song, but once the meat of the song is accessed, its a great track.

Jetpack was Yes offers a breather to the heavy bombardment of metal, but the techno elements may alienate a few people at the start of the track. As the track progresses, a great melody is brought out, showcasing Spencer's vocal capacity.

Light has always been one of my favorites from Misha's soundclick, and in the album, it did not dissapoint. The transitions are spectacular, and the growling and melodic vocals fit perfectly with the songs djent-y melody.

All New Materials is another breather with wonderful melodies that compliment the vocals profoundly well. Periphery always seems to know how to do that despite their extreme heaviness.

Buttersnips is by far my favorite track on the album, save perhaps Icarus Lives and maybe Racecar. That spectacular intro blossoms so nicely into the verses and chorus, making one hell of an epic track!

Icarus Lives, which was one of the first Periphery tracks I heard, when Casey Sabol was the vocalists, has always been a spectacular track. That killer intro, and Spencer's whisperings open into such a wonderful track. The vocals and their allusion to Greek mythology are also great, not to mention the message behind the words.

Totla Mad is a great track. Wonderful polyrhythms permeate the song beautifully.

Ow My Feelings could be called a weaker track, but weaker in Periphery standards is still absolutely awesome!

Zygrox seems to just be a mashup of notes made to sound interesting. It is one of the weaker tracks on the album, with just fast notes and drum beats throwing themselves at the listener with all their might.

Racecar lets the listener truly appreciate Periphery's prowess. Combined with great musicianship, the vocals make an excellent track and closer. Again a deeper message is found in the lyrics. Polyrhythms contribute to the already awesome track. All these elements make the 15 minute long track fly by.

ALBUM OVERALL: This album is, simply stated, worth the wait of years. Almost every year since they started in 2004 they said they would release an album, oh it's pushed back. Nope this year! Never-mind, we needed a new singer. But finally, almost 6 years after all this, Periphery has blasted through with a killer debut album and some killer tracks. They were able to pick the very best that they've written throughout the years and compile a fantastic studio album. 4+ stars.

This is it ; these verry skill musicients (probably 8 cords guitare) have made a master piece of prog or DJENT they call it , technical prog is not for every one and it is the rares form of prog This album is just they ultimate of the genre before periphery this was BULB i have to say this is male stuff HA HA .The music is just squarling of spinning Accord that all work together with a semi grouth voice and regular at time . this is the future of the genre comming live to my here, me i simply love it dont forget this is extreme to, so .For fan of tech prog go for it

'Periphery' - Periphery (7/10)

The '00s may not have seen too many positive developments in music and metal in particular, but a rising trend in metal has been the 'djent' scene, a particular style of math metal pioneered by Meshuggah's palm-muted guitar work. One of the most popular bands in this style is the Maryland group Periphery, who had been promising a full-length debut to their fans for years before finally coming out with this self-titled debut. A very modern blend of metalcore and progressive influences, the album should certainly appeal to the 'djentlemen' that have so long awaited the release. Although the band's first full-length feels as if it drags on for far too long without enough meat on its bones, the album is an expertly produced piece of progressive metal.

In regards to variety here, there is not much to go around, but Periphery do what they do particularly well. Rhythmic experimentation and a constant thirst for throwing the same few muted chords into as many different time signatures as possible is what much of the band's music can be described as. There is more here to dig into however; additional mellow arrangements are layered overtop to give the music an ethereal quality to it, and the vocals of Spencer Sotelo are skilled, if anything. Through growls and clean vocals, the singer of this band can really belt out, and his modern style really makes me think that I'll be hearing alot more bands of this sound emerging in the next years.

The songwriting is generally quite good, although the vocal hooks and melody can feel often drowned out by the more 'djent' and mathematic aspects of the music. Each musician here is rock-solid in the execution, but as an album that crosses over the seventy minute mark, it doesn't feel like the band has the sound to make the journey consistently interesting. Instead, many of the songs sound quite alike as if treading the same territory of the one before it. That can really rob the album of its experimental flow, despite the album being an absolutely incredible listen if restricted to a few tracks.

'Jetpacks Was Yes', 'Icarus Lives!' and 'The Walk' are all winners here, whether for their added rhythmic madness or stronger melodic hooks. One important thing to mention here is the incredible production of the album. With the exception of the drums (which sound rather mixed out and underwhelming) the album has a very ethereal and spacey sound that really takes 'Periphery' a step above your typical mathcore act.

I cannot praise the great musicianship here enough, and as for songwriting, there is plenty of potential. However, Periphery still needs to clip some fat off of their act before making the masterpiece fans have been hoping for.

When my interest in djent began to rise rapidly, I was in the CD store and saw this album. I'd heard of it before from other djent fans and thought it might be of interest to me, so I decided to buy it, hoping this would increase my interest in the genre further.

Now the first thing I noticed upon looking at the albums booklet is that the band has three guitarists, something you don't often see. And boy can they ever play! The guitar playing is the focus of this album and a huge highlight as well, with the guitarists employing many different techniques into their playing to make it quite an interesting listen. In fact the musicianship all around is quite impressive.

Another good thing to note is the production, which fits the music pretty much perfectly. The riffs in this album are pretty fetching, especially on the track "Icarus Lives!", and the lyrics, while they may not be some peoples cup of tea, are also pretty well done.

Now there is one place the album falls flat on it's face for me: the vocals. The vocals get very tiresome, very fast, and can often make sitting through this one an ordeal. The harsh vocals are almost cringeworthy and the clean vocals tend to grate at moments. However I understand that not everyone has a problem with this, but there are many others who share my sentiment, so I guess it's very much a love/hate thing.

But all and all, a decent album. Definitely not for people who aren't a fan of technical music. Also, if you've heard Animals As Leaders before and you like them, this gives a similar sort of sound only with vocals. And if you can get past those vocals, you should love it. 3 stars in my book.