Album Review
Periphery - Periphery IIPeriphery – 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

Periphery - Band
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
 Band Related Links
Periphery Facebook
 Review Score Code
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
- What Was That?