It’s a historical certainty that whatever label of the month emerges, there will always be bands that transcend it and create their own legacy. Periphery has always proven itself above the rest since their twin mastodon albums, and therefore have every right to be classified as they see fit.
Moreover, if there were to be an accomplished but often porous world group of Meshuggah-inspired by the tech metal capable of unveiling such a dismissive and sarcastic album title, it’s them.
A key element of Periphery’s enviable run on their recent output is the self-aware undertone that permeates the refined mix of shimmering heaviness, devilish dexterity and alluring earworms.
It is these standards by which V is judged, and the album could usurp some of its ancestors from the podium. Straight out of the blocks, Fires And Atropos show the band’s myriad elements at their finest, taking on jerky riffs, Matt Halpern’s delicate drumming and an irresistible chorus where Spencer Sotelo’s vocals can flourish.
While the three guitarists deploy their melodic muscle on wax wings, the leader perfectly balances hostile vocals with cleans that stay just on the good side of saccharine. The juxtaposition reaches its zenith as the antagonistic chaos of Everything’s good! gives way to the 80s synth-infused tenderness of Silhouette.
In the continuity of the magnum opus of the last album, Reptile, big devil And Thank you try to cram as many ideas as possible into their excessive lengths. But while the latter’s many ideas fail to cohesively gel around one of the band’s most inventive and memorable riffs and booming vocals, the former turns into a rumbling epic and opulent that transforms into marvelous synths. Call them what you want, just make sure there’s a superlative somewhere in the title.
Periphery V: Djent Is Not A Genre will be released Friday, March 10 via 3Dot.