Periphery’s
debut album arrived on the scene when technical progressive metal was beginning
to rise to the top of the heavy scene, and the band rode on a wave of their own
making - intelligent solos, mind-bending time signatures and sweet-as-sugar
vocal harmonies. While this follow up does little to show that the band are
moving forwards with their sound in any way, it certainly allows everything
that was heard in their first album to grow (albeit sideways and not upwards).
At a mammoth 70 minutes, this is an album that constantly punches you in the
face (with riffs, of course) and refuses to let up.
‘Periphery
II’ starts with the distant guitar notes of ‘Muramasa’, which include the
aesthetically pleasing vocals from frontman Spencer Sotelo (whose range is
quite phenomenal). The song slips into a slow groove with some fantastic runs
and licks from the lead, chopping and changing from thrashing beats to a
juddering beast of a tune. The screams flow along with the frenzied guitars and
melodic howls ring true, leaving the track to last long in the memory. ‘Have A
Blast’ begins with a bizarre and unnerving combination of instrumentals before
switching to an intense heavy track, which shows off all of the reasoning
behind the band’s rise to prominence. Each note, slide and chug is required and
feels relevant, making the entire experience complicated yet considerate.
‘Facepalm
Mute’ has more than a great title; it’s a wonderfully crafted song with
delightful brutality and an edge of emotive angst. It’s a bulky song with
another noticeable groove and throws enough crazy ideas around to keep the
listener hooked. The clean choruses never feel overused or out of place and the
electro beat/haunting guitar of the outro provides stunning atmosphere. ‘Ji’ is
a bouncing ball of fun, and Sotelo’s work is again consistently wonderful, his
vocals never failing to stand up against the instrumentals. Some melodies stray
dangerously close to those of 80s power ballads, making the song a saccharine
sing-along at times, but despite that it’s powerful and unpredictable.
‘Scarlet’
is imaginative and full of impressive guitar wizardry (or wankery, depending on
how you look at constant complex guitar playing). This track seems more ‘thrown
together’ than previous songs, but it remains original and progressive at every
turn. ‘Luck As A Constant’ uses melodic and wailing guitars in abundance
(including the most incredible supersonic riff of the album so far). There are
odd time signatures, finger bleeding guitar shreds and an impressive
clean/screamed vocal trade off. ‘Ragnarok’ is chaotic, varied and a great
example of what the new school metal scene can pull off (Periphery carry the
progressive torch along with the likes of Between The Buried And Me, Protest
The Hero and Born Of Osiris). It’s a long track, and although the severe amount
of content can be overwhelming at times, it’s packed with hooks and intelligent
harmonies, enough of which to keep it fresh and exciting.
‘The
Gods Must Be Crazy!’ has furious riffing with some soaring vocals (no more comparisons
to Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington, please!) and an acute attention to detail.
The groove running through the song is infectious and the melodies occasionally
feel like they’re from pop-punk territory, which is odd yet appealing. ‘MAKE
TOTAL DESTROY’ is bold, brash and the purest example of what Periphery stand
for. It’s wholesome, honest, aggressive metal and sets the bar high for
aspiring bands. ‘Erised’ is engaging, glorious and full of tremendous vocal
hooks. Sotelo has announced that he listens from everything from Opeth to
Extreme, and those bands (plus everything in between) come through in his
performance.
‘Epoch’
is a break in the standard proceedings of the record and comes in the form of
an electro-dub interlude that is mysterious and elegant. ‘Froggin’ Bullfish’ is
a thunderous song which shows off the great musicianship of the band and has
another recognisable groove running through it. The non-stop intensity ends
with acoustic guitars calming the proceedings. ’13 Mile Zero’ includes gorgeous
layered guitars, synths and effects, building up the rich sound. It’s
passionate and mesmerising, as is final track ‘Masamune’, which is also
incredibly heavy. It channels all of the creative ideas (and there are a lot!)
from the 13 track that come before it into a huge melting pot before fading
slowly to a close.
The
sheer quality of the album will no doubt mean Periphery receive yet more
critical acclaim, but essentially it’s just more of what has been heard before.
That’s not a bad thing; of course, some bands make an entire career out of
that, but for a band such as this, more will be expected for the next release.
This time it may be ‘personal’, but next time it needs to be monumental.
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