The Periphery Thread

[Cable]

Really excellent album! Alpha is my favourite, but there's some superb stuff on Omega too.

My favourite songs are probably the two title tracks. The Alpha chorus is insanely catchy and I love when it reprises towards the end of Omega.

Same here about the title tracks!

Unfortunately, these two are the only real songs that have stuck. The Bad Thing I like, as I heard it before buying. A few other moments are cool. But all in all, underwhelming so far. 

Thankfully you said Mosh the reprises are there. Right now, I have only hard the obvious one of the title tracks. I felt there were none beyond the title tracks, which would really bring this album down for me.

PII was of course great, and I really liked Clear. To me so far, Juggernaut is kind of meandering to me, like their first album. While I appreciate odd song structures, nothing is really sticking like PII and the vocal parts of Clear. I feel like they may have a go at a cool melody, and poof it's gone to never return.

And I had more hope for some heavy 8 string riffs in conjunction with the F# bass, but nothing really has stood out there either. 

[Heretic]

Omega is easily my favorite work Periphery has put out. Every song is catchy and memorable especially after repeated listens. The title track is probably the greatest thing they've ever composed, and the melodies throughout it are just fantastic. "Take pity on a soul and grant me resurrection" and the Alpha chorus reprise are two of my favorite melodies, easily.

Alpha is great, too. Not quite as amazing I'd say, but together Juggernaut easily stands above their other work. It's more mature and more cohesive as a whole I'd say. There's a more serious vibe than there was on PII as well, which I really like.

[Mosh]

Really excellent album! Alpha is my favourite, but there's some superb stuff on Omega too.

My favourite songs are probably the two title tracks. The Alpha chorus is insanely catchy and I love when it reprises towards the end of Omega.

Same here about the title tracks!

Unfortunately, these two are the only real songs that have stuck. The Bad Thing I like, as I heard it before buying. A few other moments are cool. But all in all, underwhelming so far. 

Thankfully you said Mosh the reprises are there. Right now, I have only hard the obvious one of the title tracks. I felt there were none beyond the title tracks, which would really bring this album down for me.

PII was of course great, and I really liked Clear. To me so far, Juggernaut is kind of meandering to me, like their first album. While I appreciate odd song structures, nothing is really sticking like PII and the vocal parts of Clear. I feel like they may have a go at a cool melody, and poof it's gone to never return.

And I had more hope for some heavy 8 string riffs in conjunction with the F# bass, but nothing really has stood out there either. 

I'd say give it some time. It's a lot of material and a lot of the nuance of the albums take a long time to catch. And yea there are reprises all over the place, they're all mostly well done too.

[WebRaider]

Actually kind of surprised at all the positive reactions here. Its funny cause I was really excited pre-release and everyone else here seemed to kind of bag on the songs before the album was out. (I didn't listen to anything before the album came out).

I'm a big fan of the band and all the members but I'm having a tough time with this album. It has nothing to do with it being a concept album (I have yet to really try to pay attention to any concept with this release) and its not a problem with it being a double album (I love double albums personally... give me all the material during the recording sessions and let me determine what I like IMO).

Huge fan of the first two albums and I know in general thats sort of different than most people. They either like one or the other it seems. Whats bothering me most at this point of about 10 listens or so to Juggernaut is the lack of melody compared to II (not to say that its not there but II has much better melody composition IMO). The worst of all is the lack of super guitar.... that bothers me badly considering the talent in this band and my expectations (again not that its not there but compared). What solos are within the album aren't quite as memorable to me after the fact. The guitar is much more just straight djenty to me overall.

That's the thing that seems to get me about their past albums, either I'll catch myself thinking of the melody of the singing or a great solo and Its just not catching with me on this release at this point. I'll continue to listen to see if I come around to it more (it happens often) and its quite good as it is, but for me its not as good as I had hoped considering what this band has done already.

[BlackInk]

The only thing I really agree with from the above post is the guitar solos. I think they're quite good, but they're really short. For example, the solo in Heavy Heart is absolutely fantastic when it gets going, but then just ends almost immediately.

[ariich]

I think there's some lovely guitar work across the album! Maybe a bit more restrained than on the previous releases, but I dig the style.

And wtf at saying no melodies - Alpha in particular contains a lot of the catchiest choruses they've ever done.

[Ben_Jamin]

Keyword..."Expectations" That is what I feel is bad for Music listening. I feel you should never listen to music with that, It'll hinder your mind.

[Zantera]

I went into the album with low expectations and was blown away, and some who seems to have gone into it with high expectations had a let down. So expectations are mostly a bad thing.

Rich puts it in good words when he says the album is a bit more restrained, I totally agree and I really love it. Prog Metal has in many situations become like a joke that it has to be very flashy, technical or over the top, and IMO Periphery bursts that bubble a bit, because this album isn't overly technical or overly flashy, it's just really good songwriting.

[BlackInk]

I went into it with what was probably the highest expectations I've ever had, and I still loved it.

[ariich]

Yeah I think I'm usually fairly good at not letting expectations affect me much (and generally avoid making too much in the way of expectations in the first place), which I think definitely helps me appreciate music (or indeed any art) for what it is.

That said, I was pretty excited for Juggernaut, and am still hugely impressed.

[WebRaider]

I think there's some lovely guitar work across the album! Maybe a bit more restrained than on the previous releases, but I dig the style.

And wtf at saying no melodies - Alpha in particular contains a lot of the catchiest choruses they've ever done.

Whats bothering me most at this point of about 10 listens or so to Juggernaut is the lack of melody compared to II (not to say that its not there but II has much better melody composition IMO).

[WebRaider]

I went into the album with low expectations and was blown away, and some who seems to have gone into it with high expectations had a let down. So expectations are mostly a bad thing.

Rich puts it in good words when he says the album is a bit more restrained, I totally agree and I really love it. Prog Metal has in many situations become like a joke that it has to be very flashy, technical or over the top, and IMO Periphery bursts that bubble a bit, because this album isn't overly technical or overly flashy, it's just really good songwriting.

It was going to be difficult for me not to have high expectations given their prior work and it being a double concept album... just how it is.

I understand your perspective BUT... whether you like "wanky guitar driven prog" or not, there is also the issue of djent music being driven by "boring djenty" guitar. The reason I have loved the previous albums guitar work so much is the balance they've always had.

Again, I'm not saying I dislike this album at this point at all. I just think the melodies -vocal and song composition wise- were better on II and the guitar solos, non djenty parts were better on their two prior releases on the whole. I'm sure I'll find those parts you all like and come around more in time.

[ZKX-2099]

While I would have liked some more shredding I really love both Juggernaut albums. Loved them instantly. The first 2 I had to "work" to love them.

Also Racecar is still their best song.

[BlackInk]

In my opinion, Juggernaut is much less 'djenty' than the last two records. Especially less than P1, which is just like almost 100% djent. Juggernaut incorporates more basic 'prog'-sounding stuff than I think they've ever done before.

[Zantera]

I agree. The djent vibe was strong on P1, slightly less, but still strong on P2, almost gone on Clear, and kinda similar on Juggernaut. Their less djent-y release and most progressive. (I count both Juggernaut as one release)

[ddtonfire]

It took me a while to get into Alpha and Omega. I thought the songs were terrible when they were releasing them individually. Now I can't stop listening to it, as an album.

[pain of occupation]

holy! I'm also surprised by the overwhelming positive response. not saying I don't likey, it's just, it's just so overfuckingwhelming! (I actually haven't had much of a chance to check it out, actually)

ya, expectations suck. had ridiculously high expectations for both new Leprous and new Karnivool in '13, and while both were good, neither reached the loftiness of the expectations. have since learned to cool it on the expectations.
well, mostly.

[BlackInk]

I'm actually a bit surprised by the positive response too, because how indifferent everyone seemed to be towards the pre-release released tracks.

[Jaq]

As to the guitar solos comment: given how bloody many of them, and how many there were by guests, on PII I'm not shocked they dialed it back a bit. This music isn't really calling for non stop shred fests anyway.

Now if I had a fucking clue what the STORY was 

[Infinite Cactus]

I believe I'm one of the very few whom loves Froggin' Bullfish.

Nay. It's my third favorite. When it kicks in right after the intro.....tops.

[Buddyhunter1]

Now if I had a fucking clue what the STORY was 

Person gets born into an evil cult or something and gets corrupted/mind controlled at a young age and forced to do evil stuff
He gets depressed and kills himself and gets sent to hell
He gets another chance at life and gets reincarnated or something

Something like that. Seems really basic to me, to be honest.

[BlackInk]

Yeah, the most basic plot points and the overall directions can be figured out. I have not yet figured out how it all ties together and the finer 'details' of his character and the story elements and parts. Like what is going on in the track 'Omega' and how that leads to the events in 'Stranger Things', I have no idea.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

MK Ultra just ripped my face off.

 

[Crow]

can't really say this album has clicked for me yet, there's a lot of stuff i like but not much standing out and it's a bit of an exhausting listen

[pain of occupation]

I agree on the Frogging Bullfsh sentiment;  that song destroys most other songs in its path. 
Ben_Jamin, you're in the majority on this one, me thinks.

[Zantera]

I don't really remember anything after Erised on P2, and I've heard the album maybe 40-50 times? It's just something about the album that makes me phase out towards the end.

[BlackInk]

^Froggin' Bullfish and Mile Zero took a long time for me to truly appreciate, yeah, but Masamune has always been awesome in my mind.

[Cable]

The album(s) is getting better. Finding about the reprises from Mosh outside of the obvious Alpha/Omega one, and then seeking out what they were has made me appreciate this more and more. And also getting an outline about the concept. I agree with Buddyhunter, it isn't great or anything. But I don't hold any concept album as incredible story wise. And if they are (Opeth MAYH maybe?), there are no real reoccurring themes (a MUST for a concept album IMO).

But since I was equipped with this, I listened to the album a pass thru with actual headphones and the liner notes. This is something I have to make time for, whereas with other albums back in the day I had plenty of time to do this. It made the album much better for me.

I do agree with WebRaider about the solos being a noticeable absence in prominence. However, I never really remembered many of theirs. They were always well done to me, just not stand outs. Which isn't a bad thing either. Too many metal solos are crap.

[Mosh]

It's true that there are less solos on this album. But I'll take quality over quantity any day and I'd say all the solos on this album wipe the floor with any solo from the first two albums (not including the guest stuff on PII).

[ZKX-2099]

It's true that there are less solos on this album. But I'll take quality over quantity any day and I'd say all the solos on this album wipe the floor with any solo from the first two albums (not including the guest stuff on PII and Luck as a Constant).

I took the liberty to add something that makes your post look less wrong.

[BlackInk]

Yeah, Luck as a Constant has brilliant solos. Especially Jake's.

[WebRaider]

It's true that there are less solos on this album. But I'll take quality over quantity any day and I'd say all the solos on this album wipe the floor with any solo from the first two albums (not including the guest stuff on PII and Luck as a Constant).

I took the liberty to add something that makes your post look less wrong.

Lol still doesn't help it much but yeah a little better! 

[YtseJamittaja]

Alpha, 22 Faces and Heavy Heart are now my favourites from the albums.

[OsMosis2259]

Priestess has some serious radio potential.

[pain of occupation]

I'm with ytsejam. Alpha and 22 Faces could easily
BE MY early top two, and Heavy Heart is up there as well.
Graveless is also really doing it for me. \m/