 | Tracklist:
1. Insomnia
2. The Walk
3. Letter Experiment
4. Jetpacks Was Yes
5. Light
6. All New Materials
7. Buttersnips
8. Icarus Lives
9. Totla Mad
10. Ow My Feelings
11. Zyglrox
12. Racecar
| Ranking: #146 for 2010 | |
| | other reviews | Jake C. Taylor (4.5)
The brainchild of Misha Mansoor at last presents itself as an album.... | Kit Brown (4)
Inevitably the sexiest metal album of the year.... | Henoc López (4)
Periphery current and american sound is very predictable, and you can hear it everywhere, specially ... | SatelliteYears (4)
Periphery: Love that shit! Sumerian Records cranks out another winner...... | Wain Ord CONTRIBUTOR (3.5)
... | mrodizzle (3.5)
"On this album you'll hear heavy metal - a genre music from the future!"... | Ian W. (2.5)
Sumerian Records have finally signed a band that does more than just CHUGGA CHUGGA CHUG... |
On 219 Lists
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| Summary: A little too long and underwhelming, but there are some great ideas at work here. |
I guess I’ll admit that the hype for Periphery’s self-titled debut gave me a plethora of false expectations for what I would be getting upon first listening to this album. Being hyped up as far back as 2006, the conception and build up of Periphery through mastermind Misha Mansoor has sparked comparisons to current mathcore/metalcore leaders The Dillinger Escape Plan and Sikth, the band seemingly having lofty goals of even succeeding and bettering these bands as well as carving their own unique niche to call their own – a place where Meshuggah, Cynic, Sikth, and The Dillinger Escape Plan-conglomerate sword wielders can fight to the death. As of now it’s a pretty lonely coliseum, but that will change in time, surely. If anything, Periphery should at least be commended for offering a slight deviation of sounds that hovers fairly close to the realm of the innovative and unique.
Periphery play a hand that utilizes lead singer Spencer Sotelo’s oscillation of clean-to-harsh vocal styles in very much the same way as the prior aforementioned mathcore/metalcore bands have in the past. The real difference between the Maryland sextet’s music and that of their contemporaries, however, comes into play with an electronic dynamic that’s utilized spottily through the album’s seventy-five minute length, and, also, Meshuggah-like stop-start gun riffs that occupy a large portion of the instrumental sound happenings as well. Periphery are at their best when they are seemingly flowing from one style to the next – whether it be Sotelo’s competent, if airy harsh delivery transitioning into his nasally cleans, or three axe-men Misha Mansoor, Alex Bois, and Jake Bowen choking the chugs or winding the high-fret, speedy turns that could very well have Tim Millar and Luke Hoskin, of Protest The Hero fame, taking notes along the way.
Periphery’s length, and each track length in general, is the big black spot that keeps everything on here from looking really, really pretty. Each track would be tremendously better off with a good minute sliced off their playing times – in some places even one and a half minutes, e.g. sole-screamer, chug-fest “The Walk” and exclusively clean, melodic, and boring “Jetpacks Say Yes”. It’s the numbers that hold our attention with interesting, memorable vocal melodies and a fair balance of chug-to-technical guitar and drumming material that warrant a couple of extra minutes past the three minute mark – ala “Insomnia” and “All New Materials”. “RaceCar” is the one place where a large length – we’re talking over fifteen minutes here – feels right and argues its inclusion by remaining concisely structured, while still unpredictable, and just generally interesting all the way through.
Periphery’s enduring quality is found in how they are able to take their influences and make a fresh-feeling, if not perfected just yet, sound of their own. This alone is enough to validate some of the hype that’s been echoing in various online forums for years. But as of now, however, the band are just not on the level that they’re supposedly rumored to be. Their self-titled is filled with often-times needless track extensions, boring three-minute chug-fests, and the usage of a competent yet unremarkable lead singer. The technical parts from the aforementioned trio of guitar wizards are skillful and certainly pleasing to the ear; however, the emphasis here is clearly placed on the Meshuggah-like chugging. Had Periphery balanced these two styles on this album more equally, their self-titled could have been raised to a whole other level. As it stands, Periphery is good, promising for their future, yet not really worth the mounds of hyperbolic hype it has been receiving for the past five or so years.
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| Recent reviews by this author | | | |
this out now in new zealand and australia (april 16th)
Digging: Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself Digging: Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
I love everything I've heard so far.
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Most seem to, as I'm certainly an outlier here.
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I like the CTTS reference in the summary if that was intentional. Great review as always.
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Observer you're not the only one.
Digging: Neurosis - Times of Grace Digging: Neurosis - Times of Grace
| | | Album Rating: 3
I do not like this album.
| | | Album Rating: 4
Jetpacks Was Yes! is one of my favorites actually.
Digging: The Contortionist - Exoplanet Digging: The Contortionist - Exoplanet | | |
Oh cool, did not see your rating rel.
i don't like Jetpacks because Sotelo's clean vocals, when used over an extended period, become pretty tiring for me.
I like the CTTS reference in the summary if that was intentional
yeah, it kinda was haha. It seem to fit given the huge amounts of attention this has been getting.
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Someone is closing in on the century mark.
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I know, Mike. It's pretty crazy! I've intentionally tried to slow down to make sure I give it my best with each review, and to keep my count from getting too high, too fast. I'm not sure what I will do for my hundred.
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Yeah same here. I think I've reviewed almost everything easy to review for me by now and I feel like every review now is a struggle.
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yeah, I know what you mean. I have a few classics of mine I could review, so I may do that.
I work as a waiter, and I actually had a customer who was talking about these guys and their new album. I'm really impressed with how much Periphery have managed to build up, especially since this is their first album too.
| | | Album Rating: 2 | Sound Off
hahaha omg i will hate this so much
Digging: - | | | Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off
Album roooooooooooooolz
Digging: Joe Bonamassa - Driving Towards The Daylight Digging: Joe Bonamassa - Driving Towards The Daylight | | | Album Rating: 2.5 | Sound Off
Album is DANK, but this review is good too so have a pos.
| | | Album Rating: 2 | Sound Off
DANK
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I should strangle you, but your cool so we cool.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
I like this a lot but the review was really correct, esp the part about slicing off some of the track length, that kills it's playtime for me.
Have a pos for a good review.
Digging: fun. - Some Nights Digging: fun. - Some Nights | | |
A 3 Jared?? A 3?????
Digging: Amon Tobin - Amon Tobin Digging: Amon Tobin - Amon Tobin
| | | Album Rating: 5 | Sound Off
review is well written....i agree they should balance more melodic stuff with meshuggah type riffage-but this band is the most melodic i've ever heard in terms of these "groove metal" type bands-def. have room to grow.
album is pretty much a 4.5 but then when Racecar comes on i basically lose my mind with its epicness
Digging: Death Grips - The Money Store | | | |
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