The Periphery Thread

[Metro]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzznL_8DIUM

Video for Blood Eagle

[mikeyd23]

Wow, that was certainly heavy 

Well... that's one heck of a song.

Honestly no idea what to think about it yet, so much stuff happens in those 6 minutes. 
The main riff drops hard though.

Pretty much my thoughts as well, I definitely like it, but it'll take me several more listens to really digest everything happening there.

[YtseJamittaja]

Well, that was song I don't need to go back into. Hopefully the rest of album is not that screamy.

[mikeyd23]

Well, that was song I don't need to go back into. Hopefully the rest of album is not that screamy.

They have been saying this is their heaviest record to date, so I'd probably expect a lot of screams.

[Heretic]

Absolutely loved it, honestly. I'm sure there will be quite the variation in terms of melodious vs. heavier moments on the album.

[mikeyd23]

Yeah I'm sure it won't be all screams, Spencer will definitely have good clean, melody sections. It's just supposed to be a heavier overall record, so there probably will be a lot of harsh vocals.

[Crow]

haha that sucked

[TioJorge]

Interesting and cool to see all the different opinions on this. I'm surprised it's this divisive. Can't please everyone. 

I love the hell out of it, I thought it was a fantastic blend of their more melodic and quiet moments with Spence singing in the middle section (which is awesome) and their more Periphery II-esque metal moments, which clearly is the dominate portion of the song. I am super stoked to hear the rest. What a fucking great band.

What's interesting to me for my own views on it is that I really did not like (and still am pretty luke-warm towards) PIII's singles (especially Price/Wrong and still to some extent, Motormouth), but I love this. I'm not sure if it's the song's structure, Spencer's singing in this song specifically (I LOVE the PII-esque vocals, which to me seem to be more growly instead of actual "screaming") or the fact that there's a section that's more melodic and quiet to break up the insanity. Either way, this song has a great blend of both and sounds awesome.

I do love the trolling of the band with their comments on the album months beforehand and the fact that they really do not give a single shit; they'll make what they want. That's how it should be. The privileged fans be damned. There's a certain pompous bullshit-filled personality and ridiculous amount of selfish pride that goes behind the thought of "this band should make music how I want", but that's a whole other fucking thread. 

By the bye, I think everyone, myself included when it comes to about half of PIII, is in that category at some point in their life with their favorite band, I think it's kind of guaranteed once you become attached to a band. But it's a good wake up call to kind of fuck off with the expectations and what you want as opposed to simply accepting what the band makes and then you can either like it or not, but the whole "we deserve *such and such* type of music from *such and such* band" is a load of utter shit that more often than not comes from pre-pubescent fits.

[mikeyd23]

haha that sucked

Insightful commentary as usual 

Interesting and cool to see all the different opinions on this. I'm surprised it's this divisive. Can't please everyone. 

I love the hell out of it, I thought it was a fantastic blend of their more melodic and quiet moments with Spence singing in the middle section (which is awesome) and their more Periphery II-esque metal moments, which clearly is the dominate portion of the song. I am super stoked to hear the rest. What a fucking great band.

What's interesting to me for my own views on it is that I really did not like (and still am pretty luke-warm towards) PIII's singles (especially Price/Wrong and still to some extent, Motormouth), but I love this. I'm not sure if it's the song's structure, Spencer's singing in this song specifically (I LOVE the PII-esque vocals, which to me seem to be more growly instead of actual "screaming") or the fact that there's a section that's more melodic and quiet to break up the insanity. Either way, this song has a great blend of both and sounds awesome.

I do love the trolling of the band with their comments on the album months beforehand and the fact that they really do not give a single shit; they'll make what they want. That's how it should be. The privileged fans be damned. There's a certain pompous bullshit-filled personality and ridiculous amount of selfish pride that goes behind the thought of "this band should make music how I want", but that's a whole other fucking thread. 

By the bye, I think everyone, myself included when it comes to about half of PIII, is in that category at some point in their life with their favorite band, I think it's kind of guaranteed once you become attached to a band. But it's a good wake up call to kind of fuck off with the expectations and what you want as opposed to simply accepting what the band makes and then you can either like it or not, but the whole "we deserve *such and such* type of music from *such and such* band" is a load of utter shit that more often than not comes from pre-pubescent fits.

Yeah I'm with you here, it's definitely got a PII vibe, which is awesome. The clean section in the middle is a great breathing point.

As for the band's current situation, they made their own label, this is the first record they are releasing on their own. They have basically said, at this point Periphery is a passion project for them. There are no outside pressures to shape the direction in anyway, they just make music they want. Gotta respect that.

[jakepriest]

One thing I have to say, is that I feel Spencer has been getting more meh every album since PII. On that album both his cleans and growls were on point.

Juggernaut had good vocals overall, but some of the growls were a bit underwhelming.
PIII was just bad in every aspect vocal-wise imo.
Cleans seem to be good on Blood Eagle but again the growls are kinda meh at best. Which doesn't help since like 80% of the song is harsh vocals. 

[YtseJamittaja]

They released the new song Garden in the Bones. A lot more cohensive track and I liked that much more than Blood Eagle.

[jakepriest]

That was pretty good instrumentally, but I still can't stand Spencer's new whiny vocal style.

[Polarbear]

That was pretty good instrumentally, but I still can't stand Spencer's new whiny vocal style.

I'm not hearing anything different in his singing compared to the older albums, but that's just me..

Song was good! Haven't listened to Periphery in ages so this song was a nice surprise.

[Buddyhunter1]

Much better than Blood Eagle
I don't know why, but Periphery's lead singles always seem to be either really poor or nowhere near the best songs from their respective albums.

[mikeyd23]

I like the new song. Really looking forward to this record.

[TioJorge]

Man, I couldn't disagree more with the thought that Spencer's vocals have worsened over time. I think he has grown into his own and really sounds like he knows his best ranges and tones. I think his growls sound just as good (though yes, a little different) as PII and his highs, while not quite as confident and clear (hey, time is a mofo), sound really emotional and great. You can just tell they're all enjoying it. Love this one just as much as Blood Eagle.

Even though I loved a lot of PIII, I was also kind of bored with just as many areas of it. So hopefully I'll be all in on this one.

[Herrick]

That was pretty good instrumentally, but I still can't stand Spencer's new whiny vocal style.

I'm not hearing anything different in his singing compared to the older albums, but that's just me..

Song was good! Haven't listened to Periphery in ages so this song was a nice surprise.

From someone who couldn't get into their earlier stuff because of the vocals, I'd say he sounds a lot different on that song that was linked earlier in the thread. I don't hear the screamo/little-boy growls nearly as much. I think I'll be checking out this new album.

Edit: All right, now I hear it on Garden in the Bones. Ah well...

[fadetoblackdude7]

Just got into these guys. Only heard a couple songs, but I ordered the first album on amazon, to start from the beginning. What can I expect?

[jakepriest]

Just got into these guys. Only heard a couple songs, but I ordered the first album on amazon, to start from the beginning. What can I expect?

The first album is generally pretty crazy with tons of stuff going on at once (was written as an instrumental album leaving little space for the vocals).
The clean vocals are kinda weak on the album, but they have their charm.

I still consider it the second most consistent album overall, right after the Juggernaut double-album.
Either way if you don't like it, the albums that follow are pretty different.

[fadetoblackdude7]

Just got into these guys. Only heard a couple songs, but I ordered the first album on amazon, to start from the beginning. What can I expect?

The first album is generally pretty crazy with tons of stuff going on at once (was written as an instrumental album leaving little space for the vocals).
The clean vocals are kinda weak on the album, but they have their charm.

I still consider it the second most consistent album overall, right after the Juggernaut double-album.
Either way if you don't like it, the albums that follow are pretty different.

Cool thanks!

[fadetoblackdude7]

I can’t stop listening to these guys. I dropped the whole idea of going in order and picked up PIII. Love it so far. I also have been listening to the 2 new singles a lot, can’t wait for PIV.

I disagree about Spencer’s voice being whiny. Can’t hear that. I think his voice is extremely powerful and it kicks major ass!

[Ben_Jamin]

I suggest picking up/listening to P2. Its fantastic and watch the video for Scarlet.

[TioJorge]

Uhhhh apparently the album leaked, so instead of bitching, these guys surprise no one that knows them and release the album themselves. It's streaming entirely on their official Youtube. I fucking love these guys. That sucks that the album leaked, but as someone who used to torrent back in the day, I really like their response because truly, no one can control that. It's always gonna be there (obviously, at this point). Great tactic because the fans that are paying get a treat as well.

Almost done with Reptile and this song is one of the only songs in decades that is longer than 8 or 9 minutes that i've truly loved the whole time. That's one of the main reasons why I disliked longer (for prog, so like 11 plus minutes) songs is that there's almost always a section or two I dislike or get bored with, but this one is all tits.

Super excited to hear this thing, I have a feeling I'll love it. I'll post back after some time with it but excited to hear other opinions.

[TioJorge]

Nevermind, I didn't need long. This album might be my favorite of theirs, this is pure awesomeness. They took the whole "light/heavy/light/heavy" aspect and just blended it perfectly into something else. I loved every minute. I just need to dissect it now.

[ZKX-2099]

5 great albums in a row. Few bands are able to do that.

[mikeyd23]

This album is fantastic. 

I have so many thoughts, when I have time for a proper post, I'll write up some sort of review. This is killer stuff though.

[jimbosile]

Very good album overall, but my word Satellites is phenomenal. Probably my favourite performance from Spencer out of everything they've done.

[Train of Naught]

When is the actual original release date for this (Spotify etc.)? I’m super eager to check it out but the YouTube videos are not available in my country :/

[Buddyhunter1]

When is the actual original release date for this (Spotify etc.)? I’m super eager to check it out but the YouTube videos are not available in my country :/

Should be this friday.

[mikeyd23]

When is the actual original release date for this (Spotify etc.)? I’m super eager to check it out but the YouTube videos are not available in my country :/

Should be this friday.

Yeah official release date is April 5th.

[goo-goo]

This album is great. This might be THE Periphery album (i.e. best one from them). I just love that massive guitar sound this guys have. I do wish they would use Spencer's cleaner vocals more since he has a great voice.

[Sir Walrus Cauliflower]

Very good album overall, but my word Satellites is phenomenal. Probably my favourite performance from Spencer out of everything they've done.

Completely agree, probably my favorite Periphery song next to Stranger things. Which, coincidentally is probably my other favorite performance by Spencer. I think Reptile is probably one of my top 5 Periphery songs as well now. It's Only Smiles is such a gorgeous song as well. The album as a whole has a perfect balance of heaviness/melody/experimentation for my taste, and is probably my favorite of theirs, but I'll give it some time. It's basically exactly what I like. Between the new Coheed, DT, Haken, P4, and rumblings of potential Dear Hunter and Thank You Scientist I'm absolutely floored by what all of my favorite bands have been doing lately. 

God bless America 

[mikeyd23]

Some more detailed thoughts, I've been listening to this thing all week.

Reptile - Probably will go down as one of their best songs. The 17 minutes fly by pretty quick. Really well constructed song, lots of movements and sections, everything flows really well.

Blood Eagle - Single that was released a while back, good heavy, evil tune. The guitar tones are really fantastic.

Church Burner - Really cool shorter track, the verses are pretty out there, but the chorus is catchy. Cool electronic stuff at the end. I wish they brought the band back in at the end to blend with the electronic stuff, but it's cool, wanting more is a good thing I guess.

Garden in the Bones - also a single previously released. I like this song, a little more straight forward and melodic, really good hook from Spencer.

It's Only Smiles - I love this song. Pretty different for them, kinda that pop-punk influence blended with Mark's signature riff styling. Spencer is great here again, continuous theme on the record for me.

Follow Your Ghost - Killer heavy stuff is back, I like this one, but it hasn't stuck with me yet.

Crush - Pretty different style for the band again, going pretty much all electronic. I like it, but I wish they would have brought the full band in at some point to contrast the stripped back electronic style.

Sentient Glow - Cool straight up rocker, sounds like PII stuff, which is great.

Satellites - Fantastic closer, I love when the band does these types of songs (like Lune). Spencer is insanely good on this song, the arrangement is really cool too. Stick around to hear the last 3 seconds, totally worth the wait.

Overall, this is a really, really good album from the band. Probably will end up being one of my, if not my favorite Periphery record.

[fadetoblackdude7]

Haven’t heard the whole album yet, gonna wait til I get my copy tomorrow. I have listened to Reptile many times though, what a glorious track!!

[mikeyd23]

Haven’t heard the whole album yet, gonna wait til I get my copy tomorrow. I have listened to Reptile many times though, what a glorious track!!

Yeah, it really is. It's a very well constructed song and it's really pretty vocally driven for a track of that length.