The Periphery Thread

[OsMosis2259]

The EP stream right here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww8wIUTzjvk&list=PLH22-xSMERQp18O1-ZMBCGD8zXwcDa037#t=1

[BlackInk]

Listening now, sounds good.

[OsMosis2259]

Really digging Matt, Spencer, and Nolly's tracks!

[BlackInk]

First listen thoughts:

1. Overture - Pretty much exactly what everyone probably expected. Still cool though.
2. The Summer Jam - Not a huge fan on first listen.
3. Feed the Ground - I remember not liking this when it was posted a while ago, haven't listened to it since. But it was admittably better than I remembered.
4. Zero - If this track had lyrics, it would have been the best song on Clear.
5. The Parade of Ashes - Actually pretty good. Not a periphery-song, but still good.
6. Extraneous - I love Meshuggah.
7. Pale Aura - Featuring my favorite moment of Clear, the whole outro of this song.

In conclusion, good music for sure, but I'm not overly impressed. But it did contain my two probably favorite instrumental tracks by Periphery. But all of this was pretty much exactly what I expected after learning what this experiment was about, so it's all fine and it'll help in my wait for Juggernaut.

[PROGdrummer]

This basically reassures me that if they dropped Spencer and Jake, and just focused on Misha, Nolly, and Mark writing the best riffs and grooves they could, Periphery would be an incredible band. But alas, that is not the case.

no hate intended, Periphery is alright. They just have potential to be so much better.


Track ranking: (1-3 being  god-tier,    4-6 being shit-tier)
1. Extraneous
2. Pale Aura
3. Zero

4. The Summer Jam
5. The Parade of Ashes
6. Feed The Ground

[WindMaster]

All songs are good, but Pale Aura is definitely my fave.

[chrisbDTM]

i like them all.


and also I'll defend spencer to the death. I love that he's in the band. the band's lineup is an A-team of talented musicians and Juggernaut is gonna rule. This EP was a nice thing to put out while we wait, and shouldn't be taken too seriously

[adace]

Really good EP even if I don't like it as much as the first two albums. Can't wait for Juggernaut!

[pain of occupation]

4.44 songs in, and  parade of ashes!

[OsMosis2259]

Yeah the EP was an experiment and IMO is a success!
Really cool to see individually what each member is really into.

Mark and Jake's riffs seem to be technical but have a lot of melody in them
Spencer has a pop influence
Misha and Nolly write a lot of heavy/darker stuff
Halpern is just a beast

Those are just some things that came to my mind as I was listening.

[Jaq]

Giving it a listen now, and rather liking it.

And put me in the "fuck the Spencer haters" camp, I love what he brings to the band. 

[Konrad]

I wish they'd stayed instrumental. Vocals completely ruin it for me.

[ddtonfire]

I'm with Jaq.

[Buddyhunter1]

Listened to this a couple times, it's pretty great. Not as good as the albums obviously, but that's an unfair comparison.
I actually think Matt and Spencer's songs are some of the strongest on the EP... They're a different style than most Periphery songs, but that makes them stand out more.

Also, is Jake's song the only one that contains a musical motif from the overture? Did that element of the EP just get abandoned?

[PROGdrummer]

Halpern is just a beast
Those are just some things that came to my mind as I was listening.

Halpern only played on Parade of Ashes and Feed The Ground, just FYI.

All of the other songs used programmed drum machine

[chrisbDTM]

Too bad the rest of the band didn't record at the studio with matt and spencer. Their two songs sound much better sonically

[WindMaster]

Halpern is just a beast
Those are just some things that came to my mind as I was listening.

Halpern only played on Parade of Ashes and Feed The Ground, just FYI.

All of the other songs used programmed drum machine

How do you know this? They all sound like he played on them to me.

[Buddyhunter1]

I think it was Jake who mentioned it in an interview. And the drum sound is quite noticeably different on those two tracks vs. the others.

[WindMaster]

Yeah now that I'm listening for it, it's there.

[OsMosis2259]

Halpern is just a beast
Those are just some things that came to my mind as I was listening.

Halpern only played on Parade of Ashes and Feed The Ground, just FYI.

All of the other songs used programmed drum machine

Yup the others are all Toontrack.
He is just a great drummer in general. He gets some of the best drum sounds IMO too. This was posted last week.

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

[Buddyhunter1]

So after sinking in all the way, I'd say that this EP definitely exceeded my expectations. Short, but incredibly sweet.

The chorus to The Parade Of Ashes is one of the catchiest things I've heard in a while.

[jsem]

Have listened through Clear EP a few times. Nothing really sticks out and enchants me like is the case with their studio albums. But the chorus to The Parade of Ashes is just fantastic, as has been said by an above poster. That is the only part of the album that sticks out to me atm.

Just one of those albums where nothing gets etched in my brain.

[Jaq]

Oddly, I had the opposite reaction. Periphery II felt overlong because of the tacked on ambient parts, this was short and sweet and not quite as hung up on being djenty (minus, really, the instrumentals other than Overture) and showed they had a lot more to offer to me than just the djent stuff.

[OsMosis2259]

Periphery Rankings?

Periphery II
Periphery
Clear
Icarus EP

[Perpetual Change]

Periphery II felt overlong because of the tacked on ambient parts,

What? Those really bring the album up in my opinion.

[Buddyhunter1]

Periphery II
Periphery
Clear
Icarus EP

That.
Though honestly, the first album has way too much filler in my opinion for me to listen to it all the way through often.

[OsMosis2259]

Periphery II
Periphery
Clear
Icarus EP

That.
Though honestly, the first album has way too much filler in my opinion for me to listen to it all the way through often.

The first album really grew on me over the years. I do agree that it is tough to listen to from start to finish even though I like all the songs.
I feel the same way with the Animals as Leaders albums as well. I might listen to a few tracks, take a break, and then listen to some more etc

[Zantera]

P2 is probably my favorite album, but Racecar is probably my favorite song.

[jsem]

P2 is probably my favorite album, but Racecar is probably my favorite song.

This.

[BlackInk]

I'm not really sure, but I think it's:

1. Periphery
2. Periphery II: This Time It's Personal
3. Icarus
4. Clear

[chrisbDTM]

P2 is probably my favorite album, but Racecar is probably my favorite song.

This.

i'd probably go with this

[Buddyhunter1]

Ragnarok would probably be mine.

[ddtonfire]

Periphery II: This Time it's Personal
Periphery
Clear
Icarus EP


Have a Blast
Masamune
Frak the Gods
Erised
Buttersnips

[Cable]

This basically reassures me that if they dropped Spencer and Jake, and just focused on Misha, Nolly, and Mark writing the best riffs and grooves they could, Periphery would be an incredible band. But alas, that is not the case.

no hate intended, Periphery is alright. They just have potential to be so much better.


Track ranking: (1-3 being  god-tier,    4-6 being shit-tier)
1. Extraneous
2. Pale Aura
3. Zero

4. The Summer Jam
5. The Parade of Ashes
6. Feed The Ground

 

To me, if only Misha was writing, we would have Periphery I again. Which in my view is a collection of pushed together riffs, without much thought to anything else. I love Periphery II much more as the whole band was there for some of it, and the songs work much better as actual songs. Periphery I goes in a 100 different directions IMO, and Nolly's and Misha's songs on Clear are more of the same to me.

I love diverse riffs and not always being too simple, but if it's too over the place, it's easy to get lost I feel. I cannot remember much about Misha and Nolly's songs, maybe besides the now stock Meshuggah-esque single note octave riffs.

Having, as Jake said in the trailer for the EP, 6 writers in the band is cool, and I feel balances everything out. I wouldn't want an album full of Matt, Jake and Spencer's stuff. But I certainly wouldn't be too thrilled with 100% Misha and Nolly (in style, I view his track as very close to Misha)… that is Periphery I to me.

[pain of occupation]

ya, the three songs i most wanna spin off the EP are summer jam, parade of ashes, and feed the ground.

back to RACECAR. anyone get a tony mac vibe from a bunch of the lead guitar melodies and solos in the closing minutes of the song? i always did.