Periphery - Periphery IV: Hail Stan (2019)

As a prog lover, Periphery should be right at my wheel house, but it is something with their complicated djenty style that just does not sit well with me. The guys are talented and all, but the connection between them and me have never fully clicked, probably because they have been so odd in their behaviour. Just look at this album title for example, despite it being called "Periphery IV: Hail Stan", this is actually album number 6 for the band, so they are not that great at counting. Also, who the hell is this Stan they are hailing? Is it the late Stan Lee? The even later Stanley Kubrick? Or perhaps it is that weird little puff ball hat wearing kid from Colorado, Stan Marsh? Who knows, who cares.

Anyway, the band starts off with a real knockout punch in "Reptile", as in half of the people who listen to this record are gonna fall off because Periphery starts with a close to 17 minute monster. It is a bold start that sort of acts as a microcosm of what the band is, putting in everything from heavy breakdowns, melodic singing, technical passages, and U-turn tempo switches. It is a tough barrier to get through with tons of information to take in, but it is one worth busting your head over and over for.

The rest of the tracks (except the final one "Satellites") range between a more comfortable 4-6 minutes, but be sure that you brain and ears will not get much rest for that. "Blood Eagle" has this great Gojira vibe to it, chugging along like a melodic jackhammer, while "CHVRCH BVRNER" (a pretty metal song title if I say so myself) is a bundle of chaos, much like the kind that The Dillinger Escape Plan used to cook up when they were active. We also got the more leaner side of the band in a bunch of other songs, making "...Hail Stan" a fairly versatile record with both salt and sweet tastes in it.

The album does lose some momentum somewhere in the middle though, where the song writing is not coming to fruition. "It's Only Smiles" has that ominous feeling of being a cheesy teenage ballad, which is not exactly a good sign for a metal band. Even singer Spencer Sotelo (who is otherwise excellent in this record) seems juvenile here. Then we have "Crush" that uses a lot of electronical sounds, and it takes away all of the focus from the track. To put it lightly, it is an experiment that just fizzled out. The down period ends with "Sentient Glow", who tries to pick up some speed again, but does so with some really questionable vocal lines, thereby ending up half stalling.

The end of the record is saved though with "Satellites", a nice, soothing ending that ultimately leaves me with mostly the same feelings as I usually have with a Periphery record. "...Hail Stan" obviously has a lot of technical qualities, and some of the music in here is great and imaginative, but the consistency is still not there, having tracks that fumbles when the band is seemingly charging down the field. I still highly enjoy "... Hail Stan" as a fun brain exercise, the band surely knows how to keep the interest of the listener while showing their skills without shoving it to your face. I would give this album a higher rating, but I will not, because each time the record reaches its end, it tells me to suck its balls. So rude.

Songs worthy of recognition: Reptile, CHVRCH BVRNER, Satellites

Rating: 7,5/10 Sentient Glows

http://www.periphery.net/
https://twitter.com/PeripheryBand

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Periphery III: Select Difficulty

Periphery - Periphery III: Select Difficulty (2016)

First off, I really wanna state out that the guys in Periphery might need to go back to middle school, because they do not seem to know how to count. You see, this album is actually their fifth, counting the two "Juggernaut" albums as individual creations, so calling it III is just plain stupid. Even so, I shall not let this affect my impressions of the djent pioneers' new album "Select Difficulty", which is just another technical piece that will put your brain to work.

The album is most certainly very true to the nature of the band, not being drastically different from any of Periphery's previous releases, but it has enough tricks to make it feel fresh and innovative, without taking away too much of the regular formula. We got the heavy riffs, the odd time signatures, the atmospheric moods, and grooves that are irresistible. Simply put, this is just what you would expect from the band. It might not be a gigantic leap forward, but it is at least not a step backwards.

It is the songs though that define the greatness of "Select Difficulty", and they all help making it one of the most even and consistent Periphery records up to date, a thing that has always been my main concern with the band. There is no denying that the band is unique and can create some killer tunes, but the real highs are far between in the previous efforts. "Select Difficulty" however brings out a healthy dose of high quality songs in a very pleasant pace. The memorability factor is also high, making it even easier to love this album.

There are several songs that stand out here, such as the heavy opening duo of "The Price is Wrong" and "Motormouth", and the more atmospheric and catchy songs "Catch Fire" and "Flatline". "Select Difficulty" offer us a smorgasbord of all sorts of technical goodness, from heavy hitters to more orchestral offerings, and even an epic finish in "Lune", making it one of the most diverse albums that this year has seen. Fortunately, it is all within the Periphery frames, not spacing out too much so that it feels cohesive.

Despite all of this quality craftsmanship, I still feel kind of empty, wanting a little bit more from the band. There is no doubt that "Select Difficulty" is an astonishing album that djent fans will drool over, but it does have a fairly safe aura over it. I would have loved it if the band had experimented even more, pushing those boundaries even further, making it more dynamic. Simply put, it just does not click for me to completely love it. It is a great album for sure, and several songs are extremely enjoyable, and one of them will for sure end up on my favourite song list of 2016, but I miss that one little extra thing to seal the deal. So I guess that my selection of difficulty will be Hard, because it takes a lot of effort to appreciate it all for what it is, and that is ultimately how it should be. In other words, a Periphery album to the core.

Songs worthy of recognition: Catch Fire, The Price Is Wrong, Lune

Rating: 7,5/10 Absolombs

http://www.periphery.net/
https://twitter.com/PeripheryBand

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Periphery IV: Hail Stan