Every so often, a band will come and hit me so hard that I have no idea how to react to them, so all I do is listen. I listen more and more as time goes on, and I obsess over them.
This band hit me like my father hitting me with a pillowcase full of bricks after a combination of a bad day, and me not closing the lid to the ketchup after I'm done with it. This band deserves so much more attention than they've been getting. Three great guitarists, including the amazing Misha 'Bulb' Mansoor, a pretty good bassist, versatile drummer, and (arguably) great vocalist. Why arguably? I'll tell you soon.
They're a metal/djent band, and it works great for them. These guys are perfecting what they're good at. Some may argue that they're not the best, and I can't argue with that, but you'd be a fool to say these guys don't have a great start with this amazing debut album.There's three guitars going off at once, and they're all doing different things, with it almost seeming like at times, Misha is drawing a picture with his guitar, and the two other guitarists are coloring it in. There's a great show of talent here, in the songs they've perfected through trial and error through the years, before they recorded this album.
The music is very intensely layered, with many things going on in the background that you may not even notice at first, due to them being largely covered up by Spencer Sotelo's singing, to which I definitely recommend checking out the instrumental version of this album if you like it, or if you dislike Spencer's vocals.
I've mentioned a few times you may not like Spencer's vocals, so what's up with that? Well, you see, Spencer Sotelo's voice is kind of high, and while he can definitely sing, it at times sounds a little strained, which I personally like, because it makes him sound human, and not just some perfect vocalist, and the fact that he learned how to scream right before recording vocals for this album. He barely had any experience screaming, so to some, it'll sound odd, and possibly put them off, but I can't see why it would. Yeah, there's been better screamers throughout the years, but Spencer is no pushover, and everyone greatly exaggerates how supposedly bad he is.
Periphery can be heavy when they want to, as seen in 'Icarus Lives!' where Spencer switches from singing to screaming often, to the very deep sounding 'Jetpacks Was Yes!', one of my personal favorite songs off of this album, due to its lyrics, and the general concept behind it. It's about being immortal, and regretting it, because you start to lose everything you care about, including your loved ones, and there's nothing you can do to die so you can join them. It's a beautiful sounding song, and even the instrumental is great.
This album didn't sound that terribly noteworthy to me at first, but I found myself returning to it over and over, and I think it'll just get even better with time. Periphery's a band you all should watch out for, because they (hopefully) will be around to stay, and to get even better. With a solid debut like this, why shouldn't they?
8/10
Recommended tracks: Icarus Lives!, Jetpacks Was Yes!
