7/10
1. Overture
2. Summer Jam
3. Feed The Ground
4. Zero
5. The Parade Of Ashes
6. Extraneous
7. Pale Aura
RUN TIME = 29 mins
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It seems djent is the new prog rock, meaning a few nuggets of gold buried under mountains of me too, repetitively overlong wankery. I don't like the genre all that much but Periphery is one of my favourite bands. They have the brutality of any death metal band but they also have groove, melody, dynamics, an amazing singer/screamer and a will to experiment. Just my cup of heavy metal tea!
This EP is full of all that good stuff. The musicianship is, as usual with these guys, off the charts. There are three (count 'em) instrumentals on this EP!! In this day and age. Love it. The absolute stars of the album are Matt Halpern and Spencer Sotelo. Matt Halpern is simply the best drummer I've ever heard, the guy's got grooves to spare and matches every riff perfectly. Spencer Sotelo, despite being the most widely criticised part of Periphery for not being untuneful enough by the djent internet masses, is the glue that holds together the chaotic guitar riot going on behind him. With his incredible range and ear for a hook, he manages to weave memorable and coherent melodies over constantly morphing instrumentals; which is an amazing skill.
The mix is great too, each album they bring out sounds more vibrant than the last. The vocals are perhaps left unnecessarily dry at times, when there could have been a bit of delay or reverb, but on the whole everything sounds clear and massive. The ability of these guys to have so much bloody crazy stuff going on, at huge frequency ranges, and still have everything so clearly audible is mind blowing.
Now... the songs. I can't deny there are some damn good tunes here. Everything starts well. From Overture through to Zero, everything flows beautifully. Feed The Ground, in particular, is a crushing tune. It balances a driving verse/chorus and absolutely brutal post-chorus riff with a dreamy sweet middle section. This middle section gives the song real breathing room and these dynamics give the heavier parts real weight. Overture is really different and more traditionally prog than Periphery's usual style. Summer Jam has a killer chorus and goes down very nicely. Zero centers everything with Bulb's peripheric origins. Then everything.... sort of... peters out...and gets confused....pfffpt (imagine the sound of a balloon deflating)
Now... the songs. I can't deny there are some damn good tunes here. Everything starts well. From Overture through to Zero, everything flows beautifully. Feed The Ground, in particular, is a crushing tune. It balances a driving verse/chorus and absolutely brutal post-chorus riff with a dreamy sweet middle section. This middle section gives the song real breathing room and these dynamics give the heavier parts real weight. Overture is really different and more traditionally prog than Periphery's usual style. Summer Jam has a killer chorus and goes down very nicely. Zero centers everything with Bulb's peripheric origins. Then everything.... sort of... peters out...and gets confused....pfffpt (imagine the sound of a balloon deflating)
The problem here is also the EP's whole reason for being. Each member of Periphery is the "creative director" of a single song on this release. This means every song has it's own unique flavour, not a problem in itself because it creates variety. The issue is that some members are better at certain aspects of arrangement than others. Extraneous has great riffs but, despite featuring some really fucked up out of control whammy dives (this pleases me), doesn't seem to go anywhere and is, perhaps, over too quickly. This follows Parade of Ashes, a great song to be sure, it contains possibly the best solo of any Periphery release but is a jarring departure from Zero, directly before it. It's a very Nine Inch Nails style song, punky electro kinda vibe. Zero is hyper djenty prog. They don't go together too well, especially when followed by the previously mentioned Extraneous. Then the album almost derails at the final destination with Pale Aura. It has by far the least memorable intro riff, some briefly ill fitting vocals and what sounds like Matt Halpern having, in parts, a kind of seizure on the double bass pedals. Its only saving grace is a nice but overly short final refrain.
So what we have here is five fantastic songs and two alright ones. Nothing is offensively bad but the front loading of amazomeness is a problem, considering the distinct style detour and subsequently aimless final duo of songs. The collection of tunes just kind of runs out of puff. I don't begrudge the EP, though, and the score would be ten out of ten if the final two songs were more fitting. It showcases the more concisely focused side of the band and only whets the appetite for their coming concept album.
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Score: 7/10
Highlights: "Feed The Ground", "Summer Jam" & "Zero"
