PERIPHERY IV: HAIL STAN

Periphery is a Progressive Metal band from Maryland (US) founded in 2005, however they didn't released their first full length album until 2010. Since then, they have released 6 albums, with their 6th titled "Periphery IV: Hail Stan". Founded by Misha Manssor (guitars), the current lineup also includes Spencer Sotelo on vocals, Jake Bowen on guitars, Adam "Nolly" Getgood on bass, Matt Halpern on drums, and Mark Holcomb also on guitar. This is their first album to be released on their own label, and the band plays music that sounds like they set out knowing they had no restraints on the heaviness they wanted to play all along. They have no fear of getting very extreme, but they don't mind softening things up from time to time.

The first track is the longest on the album at over 16 minutes on the truly epic "Reptile" and features Mikee Goodman (one of the vocalists for the British metal band "SikTh"). With a heavy symphonic sound, this track starts to build intensity with thumping guitars and decent yet heavy vocals which fit the style of heaviness quite well. There are some yelling vocals throughout, but they take turns with clean and sometimes processed vocals. The music is hard and heavy and has the complexity required for the progressive metal genre. Right away, with the power and intensity of this track, you know the band means business this time around both in loudness and in production. Before you hit the 8 minute mark, the music calms and a deep, spoken vocal takes over, later followed with a more melodic line sung in a very emotional manner, the music builds and vocals intensify, but the music remains at a slow tempo, and then intensifies to an almost sludgy feel. This finally advances to a nice, heavy instrumental section that is supported by keyboards and a very cool guitar solo. Moods, tempos and meters change as the track continues, playing pretty much the full gamut of progressive metal through the track. The music has the progressive smarts of "Opeth" with the intensity of "The Mars Volta" while managing not to sound like either band.

As for loudness, all the stops are pulled out on "Blood Eagle". Starting off extremely loud and heavy, this sound continues with yelling vocals and full intensity, backing off only for one short section. Both the guitars and the drums play on unchecked by any restraint. This is complex progressive metal at its best, and interestingly enough, the yelling vocals don't even bother me. Maybe that is because of the complexity of the music. This crazy intensity continues without any let up on "CHVRCH BVRNER", but this one ends up with some crazy effects. "Garden in the Bones" does let up a bit more and allows for a more melodic vocal in some parts, but has several vocal styles throughout. In the middle, things soften a bit, but still remain unpredictable.

"It's Only Smiles" has an excellent, attention getting riff which introduces an emotional and melodic sound supported by synths, mellow verses and intense choruses. The guitar solo in the middle is beautiful even in its intensity. This is one of the more accessible tracks on the album, but don't worry because it still has a good level of progressive complexity and plenty of emotion. "Follow Your Ghost" returns to the loud and heavy sound with plenty of screaming and growling vocals, and remains quite relentless throughout. "Crush" is led more by electronics and keyboards with a more straightforward vocal and melody. This track definitely has a more pop-ish feel to it, but it still has some short bouts of complexity. It's a good place to put some variance in the overall album, but, with its heavy used of keys on this track, it almost feel like an entirely different band, however, it is a welcome change and still a great track venturing into "Nine Inch Nails" territory and even has an orchestral ending.

"Sentient Glow" is a cover song originally done by "Haunted Shores". It returns to the heavy sound again, very complex and many different vocal styles in a shorter 4 minute track, and even finds time for a soft section in the middle of it all before the wall of noise returns. The album ends with the 9+ minute track "Satellites". This one is surprisingly softer and has a very nice melodic feel to it. The music is still top notch and even features short harmonic, choral style vocals. But, you knew it had to happen eventually and just before the 5 minutes mark, it suddenly goes heavy and loud against a complex and solid background. After 7 minutes, the sound is more symphonic, and then suddenly very emotional and heavier again.

This is one great album. The vocalist is quite amazing with his ever changing styles, though I could have done with a bit less of the yelling, but at least it's dynamic and quite melodic at times. Overall, however, even with the variance in the styles from time to time, the sound can get extreme and relentless. There is a lot to hear in this album, and most of it is excellent with amazing musicianship, mostly heavy guitar, but with plenty of good surprises throughout. I must say that I really enjoy this album, but, at this time, am hesitant to give it 5 stars, though that could change with time and more listens. I do highly recommend this album though, mostly to those that love their progressive metal heavy and loud, but yet with a lot of variety. The yelling might get on some people's nerves, but the vocals also have dynamic in them and can change from one style to another rather quickly. Anyway, I have no problem calling this an excellent album and one of the best Prog Metal albums I have heard this year, and that is saying a lot.

In terms of metalcore music that is combined with prog metal, my favorite has got to be Between The Buried and Me, but a close second goes to Periphery.

I knew of Periphery since I first started to get into more progressive metalcore music, though I haven't heard them until getting attached to similar groups like Protest The Hero, The Human Abstract, and Animals As Leaders. While they aren't the forefathers of djent, that title could go to Meshuggah or Fredrick Thordendal's 'Sol Niger Within', Periphery definitely modernized it in my opinion, combining genres like industrial metal, post-hardcore, thrash, and even brostep into the mix, creating a highly intoxicating soup of melodic metalcore riffs and complex solos that intensify and glorifies the atmosphere all around me. While others may disagree, I'd say they are one of those bands without a single bad album. In fact, I'd double down and say their discography could even rival some of the best prog out there, with the only album I thought wasn't as good as it could've been probably being their first, but only due to a more production and mixing side of things. I digress, but with a small but very lovely discography like Periphery, and the fact they'll be releasing their seventh album soon this year, I thought it'd be a perfect time to inspect my all time favorite from the band, and recently (from the time I am writing this) my favorite album of 2019, Periphery IV: Hail Stan.

What else can I say about this gem of an album? Well, for starters, I absolutely love the tracks on here. Each one, from the big winding epic of Reptile, to the bombastic CVRCH BVRNER, to the ethereally magnificent Satellites, each track on here just hypes me up in such a way that as the first minute of Reptile swells up, I am just instantly on board with this Periphery train of metal goodness. I think this album is where the band truly embrace their more modern ideologies within their djent music, as this contains a lot more electronic elements than ever before, taking a slight backseat on just their intense metalcore for more melodic structures, with classical hymns, ambient passages in a few moments, and even slight bits of brostep, all of which delivered like a fine wine in a fancy restaurant, though that same restaurant has a mosh pit in the middle. It is all a glorious fusion of different genres that makes Periphery even more adventurous sounding then they already are.

If we are talking about tracks, I'd say my all time favorite here is Crush. Such an enthralling piece of music that truly showcases all of the album's main facets in a glorious way, showcasing heavy metal riffs with electronic beat music and a really cool little classical outro. It all just comes so well together that I am surprised that this album, or this band for that matter, isn't on the same scale to many prog metal legends like Mastodon or Pain of Salvation to many people. While it isn't a long epic, nor is it an immensely intense track, I still think the band struck the most amount of lightning in a bottle for this song, and this album as a whole.

I think while the instrumentation is a fine wine, Spencer Sotelo's vocals are like a chef's kiss on the whole thing. Without them, it'd be a great instrumental album, but Spencer adds a certain spice to this soup that he increases to a progressive metal classic in my eyes. His entire presence in every song just works so well in every aspect, and he just gives it his all that, no matter what, I never felt he had any weak spots. Ever since the first album, his voice has aged even better with each release, and here he just melts into my veins that whenever I give this album a spin I will instantly get enthralled into it. Periphery as a whole is like a wine, they just get better with age.

This is an instant prog metal legend for me. It is an album that contains both complex riffs that break me up into bits, but also powerfully beautiful movements that I cannot help but feel a certain love in all my heart. I 100% recommend listening to this as this is essential in my eyes. It's an album that sets a new bar to reach for any and all prog metal groups. Just incredible.