Album Review: Periphery-Juggernaut (Alpha+Omega)

 Whether they like it or not, Periphery will always be the band credited with starting the djent movement. The groove-oriented offshoot of progressive metal which is categorized by distinct, deep chugging guitars and heavy use of polyrhythms has taken off in popularity over the past several years, but has also picked up a large number of vocal detractors who write off the legitimacy and talent of the bands within the genre. Periphery has slowly been trying to move away from the genre they popularized on their recent releases and on their new double album, Juggernaut, they have a grand amount of success doing so.

What immediately stands out when listening to either half of Juggernaut is variety of the material. Over the double LP's 17 tracks, Periphery explores everything from complex epics ("Omega", "Psychosphere") to radio-friendly alternative rock ("Heavy Heart", "Priestess") to '90s-inspired nu/industrial metal ("MK Ultra", "The Bad Thing") with equal proficiency. This level of experimentation gives Periphery a sense of unpredictability that's unlike anything they've had in the past. This album's constant musical shifts serves as a testament of how far they've comes as songwriters. This isn't the same band that burst onto the scene in 2010 with chug-reliant tracks like "Icarus Lives!" and "Buttersnips". While they haven't entirely dropped djent grooves from their repertoire, there's now far more moments of nuanced melody and oft-kilter guitar solos to balance things out.

It also helps that for the first time in their career they're taking full advantage of the three-guitar attack of Misha "Bulb" Mansoor, Jake Bowen and Mark Holcomb that they have at their disposal. On their past records, they worked like a traditional two-guitar band with one lead and two rhythm guitar playing the same. Here, each guitarist adds something different to the mix and the riffs of the lead/rhythm guitars are in a constant state of flux. It will take even the most seasoned guitar exert multiple listens to unlock all of the layers and subtle harmonies Periphery's trio of axemen composed on these tracks. The effectiveness of their three-headed guitar monster and general improvement as songwriters is most apparent on the manic tempo-shifting 10+ minute behemoth "Omega". Their ability to organically transfer from an extended 3-4 minute progressive jam section to a skull-crushingly heavy finale is something they just wouldn't have been able to pull off a few years ago.

Further aiding and in a lot of ways making Periphery's maturation possible is vocalist Spencer Sotelo. Having a versatile vocalist in Sotelo allows Periphery to explore a lot of different avenues with ease. Whether the song calls for a poppy hook, gritty screams or something in between, Sotelo always rises to the occasion and pours maximum emotion into every single vocal line. The Alpha half of the album makes for a particularly strong showcase of Sotelo's vocal talent as it calls for a heavy dose of his clean singing. Sotelo's soaring vocals allows songs such as "Alpha", "Rainbow Gravity" and '22 Faces" to burst out of the speakers with a vivacious, irresistible energy. Sotelo has been impressive throughout his tenure with Periphery, but Juggernaut stands alone as the greatest overall vocal performance of his career.

Juggernaut is a mightily impressive effort from Periphery. They have shown substantial growth since they arrived on the scene six years ago and their increasingly dynamic style is helping them rapidly ascend in the modern metal ranks. While not without its filler along the way (most notably plodding Alpha opener "A Black Minute" and the one-note chugfest "Hell Below" from Omega), Juggernaut keeps up a pretty staggering level of consistency for a double album that runs for nearly an hour and a half. With the triumph of this album, Periphery's evolution from the founding fathers of djent to experimental progressive metal, ahem, juggernauts is now officially complete.

4/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
Alpha
1.Heavy Heart
2.Alpha
3.22 Faces

Omega
1.Priestess
2.Omega
3.The Bad Thing