PERIPHERY
“Thank you for purchasing Periphery's self-titled debut long play record, Periphery!
On this album you will hear heavy metal, a genre of music from the future! Be dazzled by distortion, be bombarded by bass-beats, and jitterbug to djent.
Periphery! Love that shit.”
These are the words that welcomed Americans to a new breed of metal in 2010. A fresh-faced Maryland sextet had just released their first album - a ferociously technical, rhythmically dizzying and crushingly heavy collection of 14 tracks that easily could’ve come from the future. The band called themselves Periphery, and categorized their music as djent - an onomatopoeic subgenre of metal known for it’s heavy rhythmic focus, utilizing 7 and 8-string guitars tuned as low as they can go. Sweden’s Meshuggah are commonly credited as the godfathers of the genre, but 9 years after their first release, it can be argued that Periphery are the most popular American djent band in the world.
Periphery is comprised of guitarists Misha Mansoor, Mark Holcomb and Jake Bowen, drummer Matt Halpern and vocalist Spencer Sotello. Ex-bassist Adam “Nolly” Getgood continues to provide recording, mastering and bass tracking to the band as an external member.
Bump was lucky enough to capture our long-time favorites on tour in support of their new album, Periphery IV: HAIL STAN at Portland’s Hawthorne Theater.
The Hawthorne Theater is not a large venue, and the dark walls are festooned with sweat after a furious opening set by another of our favorite metal acts, Veil of Maya (stay tuned for review). Anticipation beads on every brow - shoes were re-tied, beers quaffed urgently, and hoarse voices murmured breathlessly in the darkness. We’ve seen Periphery many times before, but the excitement never ebbs. With a DSLR clutched in slippery fists, we made our way near the photo pit and waited.
Some time later, a mournful string overture pierced the dark, robbing the room of its air. A hundred pinpricks of light illuminated a hooded figure slowly entering stage… in stretchy dropcrotch pants and rubber slides emblazoned with cats. As the 17-minute opener to HAIL STAN gripped the audience, I couldn’t contain my grin.
Periphery. Love that shit.
This band is nothing if not progressive (we challenge anyone to find a 17-minute track that isn’t ), and they’ve spent nearly a decade perfecting the execution of songs written with panic attack-inducing complexity. After countless hours spent with their discography, we still find our jaws on the floor time and time again as Misha, Mark and Jake trade solos effortlessly and Matt lands grace and ghost notes we didn’t think possible. CHVRCH BVRNER, the second single off of HAIL STAN rips through the crowd like shrapnel, and an immediate circle pit rocks the photo barrier behind and above us. Arachnoid, 3 sets of fingers dance across the frets. Spencer arches his back and sears the air with vocal vitriol.
Breaking from the mould set by decades of metal bands before them, Periphery strikes a sonic balance between aggression and beauty. Mansoor's writing has long incorporated soaring melodic passages and ambient electronic breakdowns, while Sotello, heralded as “the man whose voice goes up like an angel and down like a wounded ox,” delivers expressive cleans and barbaric screams in equal parts. Band culture reflects the same dichotomy in studio and on stage - snarls and scowls turn easily to giggles and choreographed dance moves or elaborate high-fives during even the smallest respite in the sonic onslaught.
This lightness pierces the benthic black as crowd favorites like Marigold and Scarlet elicit howling singalongs. The moshpit ceases its hungry vortex just long enough for lungs to draw breath in and blow it back out again in a ragged chorus.
Over the course of an hour-45 we’re treated to all of our favorites from Periphery IV and some of our most treasured tracks from Juggernaut and PIII. The blistering Psychosphere sends us back to that first summer after college when we couldn’t even imagine anything this heavy existing; Garden in the Bones takes us by the hand, its cheery chorus quickly giving way to neck-snapping fervor; Blood Eagle, the first single off of HAIL STAN sends us into a murderous glee as we cleave our way through each other to the sounds of heavy metal from future-past.
All too soon it’s time for the encore, and some hero lost in the dark and the sweat screams “RACECAR!” without hesitation. “We already gave you a 15-minute song guys, c’mon,” Spencer replies with an exasperated smile. Bump was holding out for Zyglrox personally, but we’re still overjoyed as our favorite boys launch into the 7-minute Lune and we muster what remaining strength we have to grin and break bones.
Treat yourself to the gift of djent this holiday season and take a stroll through Periphery’s discography. The boys return to North America for the last leg of their epic tour in 2020 - don’t miss out!
Go listen to some Periphery today - Bumps well with time travel, giant swords and friendship.
♥ Zach
