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Periphery - Juggernaut: Alpha & Omega review



Reviewer:
9.6

148 users:
7.58
Band: Periphery
Album: Juggernaut: Alpha & Omega
Release date: January 2015


Disc I [Alpha]
01. A Black Minute
02. MK Ultra
03. Heavy Heart
04. The Event
05. The Scourge
06. Alpha
07. 22 Faces
08. Rainbow Gravity
09. Four Lights
10. Psychosphere

Disc II [Omega]
01. Reprise
02. The Bad Thing
03. Priestess
04. Graveless
05. Hell Below
06. Omega
07. Stranger Things

Disc III [Bonus DVD]
+ Juggerdoc
+ Bonus Content

Juggernaut: Alpha and Omega are parts I and II of a crowning achievement in songwriting, storytelling, and performance. It is more emotional, more melodic, and far more jazz than anyone was expecting. Oh, it just oozes at times with a thick, dense jazz, which is kneaded into the metal music so well. But that's just one of many important ingredients.

Periphery has 3 guitarists, which is already awesome, but one of them is Misha Mansoor so they basically have 8 guitarists. If you like a dense sound with a heavy groove then this is it. The layers upon layers upon layers of meaningful and richly textured metal music will astound. They quite purposefully built this album and it shows. No, "built" is the wrong word; let's go with "grow." They GREW this album out of the deep recesses of their humanity. The press releases stated that these Juggernaut albums would be something new for the band: apparently all 6 musicians worked together to write this. Says Mansoor, "Everyone contributed to everything, even if it wasn't his instrument. It wasn't about confrontation. Everyone was focused on creating a really cool album." The band more than delivered. And the result is far greater than the sum of its parts.

This is not your grandmother's Periphery.

Periphery's brand of djent is a skilled use of the foundation laid by Meshuggah and others. The highly technical, progressive approach to thick, textured guitarwork is matched by clean and extreme vocals and a ridiculous rhythm section. Many songs are all about that bass, bout that thundering bass, which adds a somewhat menacing quality as well as confirms that your pulse will be seduced into the music. It's exciting how clearly we can hear the bass in the mix; same for the drums and all 3 guitars. Just as the songwriting served all six musicians, so does the incredible production.

At the mic, Spencer Soleto handles the cleans and the wide variety of extreme vocals. Hearing him move so easily between his many harsh voices can be a schooling experience. So, Periphery is known by some for their pop elements and their high-pitched and sometimes teen-angsty clean vocals. Yes, it's all true. It's all true and doesn't matter one bit. Because it ALL WORKS. What so often makes magic is taking all the wrong elements and using them to make right. Hearing some negativity about their pop elements is sadly one of the reasons that I never tried to get into this band before; I'm thankful that I gave them a chance via this particular album and recommend any other hesitant listeners to do the same. Pushing boundaries is so much more special than a bunch of dudes showing up and doing what they're supposed to do. Let others toe the line.

Listening to both the Alpha and Omega albums together is a joyous and rather mandatory experience. The emotional weight flows through you while time flies easily by; it's easy to see this as chapter 1 and 2 of the same story. While Alpha is crafted with its own distinct arc, at its culmination it indeed feels more like the end of Act 1. A few seconds of intermission and enter: Omega, which brings the closing act to our anti-hero's journey and resolves the overall arc of the album. A true opus, Juggernaut tells one story both with the lyrics and music. Themes and even melodies appear in more than one song. There has rarely been such a solid and satisfying arc of metal music laid out as each of these albums have been individually as well as together.

Oftentimes in metal, "jazzy" means a brief interlude of clean piano, sax, or guitar, etc., which is rather independent of the metal music. While Periphery brings several distortion-free interludes to Juggernaut, they are all pertinent. More importantly what they do well is incorporate the jazz into the metal. Sometimes they let loose and go nuts with songs like "MK Ultra," most other times it's a balanced addition. Texture is still the word of the day and Periphery uses many textures of jazz to re-define their just face-melting djent style.

Highlight track "The Scourge" starts off serene but grows quickly in weight, aggression, and emotion both musically and vocally. This is a great song to hear Sotelo's vocals go slowly from very clean to his full on screams and back again. Most tracks show a wide variety of his vocal spectrum but "The Scourge" is special in that he gives us smooth transitions all around and allows one to ride the emotional wave along with him.

What Juggernaut is above all else is universal; all is brought together by the exceptional musical storytelling. At each far end, fans of both extreme metal as well as fans of more pop rock-metal (and everyone in between) will appreciate the sheer variety in approaches to this purposefully made album. From the haunting "Priestess" to the following explosion of sound in Graveless," everyone is welcome. It's easy to hear that this album is important. Listening pulls you into their musical vortex where time and space ceases to exist. It never drags, you'll never look to see if it's nearing the end. The individuality and catchiness of the songs is only a bonus. They connect so easily and truly promote the "one journey" of this album.

This is an album for musicians, this an album for lovers, an album for thinkers, for travelers, for explorers, artists, for anyone who feels.





Written on 21.01.2015 by Susan appreciates quality metal regardless of sub-genre. Metal Storm Staff since 2006.

Twitter: @HeavyMetalSusan

Guest review by
flightoficarus
Rating:
6.0
Good news! Hot Topic has a new soundtrack! I was a little confused to see that Memphis May Fire had changed their name, but hey, new tr00 kvlt metal, amirite? Of course, I kid. In all seriousness though, I feel Periphery have made such a regression that it is hard to know where to begin.

Let's take a quick trip in my DeLorean to 2010. It seems like decades ago. A friend of mine posted a video of a little song called "Icarus Lives!" I was pretty blown away. In retrospect, it's not the greatest song ever or anything, but that riff and the low end made me feel funny in my pants. Two years later I was a big fan with both of their excellent LP's in my collection. I still play those album regularly.

Read more ››
published 13.02.2015 | Comments (6)


Comments

Comments: 28   Visited by: 503 users
21.01.2015 - 09:16
WraithZero

This is probably just me but I'd really enjoy their stuff without the vocals.
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21.01.2015 - 09:56
Rating: 9
andreosokin
SOUNDERY
Sounds intriguing! one of those cases when a review really makes you want to listen to a particular album
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21.01.2015 - 10:12
OtherDoor

Yeah, I really want to hear this, even though something is telling me that it just might not click with me for some reason. Which is most often than not, vocals. Cool review though, I enjoy reading when the authors really are into the music.
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21.01.2015 - 14:19
AssailantForce

Very nice read. Looking forward to the album more. Having heard 'The Scourge' I get a hint they keep growing beyond the djent-centric sound they so tightly wrapped around the 2010 release.

Written by OtherDoor on 21.01.2015 at 10:12

..really want to hear this, even though something is telling me that it just might not click with me for some reason. Which is most often than not, vocals.


I share a similar sentiment. Specifically Spencer's cleans: I feels his low -mid range cleans are just a tad dull. He's high range singing though is expressive.
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21.01.2015 - 15:29
chronic-headache

Written by WraithZero on 21.01.2015 at 09:16

This is probably just me but I'd really enjoy their stuff without the vocals.


Agreed. Spencer's vocals just make me cringe every time I hear it.
Way too emo
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21.01.2015 - 16:49
Occh

To all who wouldn't enjoy this album with Spencer's vocals, you will definitely have problems with the first half of this double album; the band themselves said that they focused a lot of lyrical content in the album, so Spencer is definitely even more present in this release than previous releases. Despite this, his harsh vocals (especially when you get to Omega) are substantially improved from the debut album and even Periphery II. Otherwise, Alpha will probably be a pain to listen to; Omega is where most of the good stuff is.
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21.01.2015 - 16:56
Rating: 6
Alex F
Slick Dick Rick
I really don't like Periphery, but this review has me intrigued enough to give them a second chance
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21.01.2015 - 17:18
Rating: 10
Susan
Smeghead
Written by Occh on 21.01.2015 at 16:49

To all who wouldn't enjoy this album with Spencer's vocals, you will definitely have problems with the first half of this double album; the band themselves said that they focused a lot of lyrical content in the album, so Spencer is definitely even more present in this release than previous releases. Despite this, his harsh vocals (especially when you get to Omega) are substantially improved from the debut album and even Periphery II. Otherwise, Alpha will probably be a pain to listen to; Omega is where most of the good stuff is.


I agree that Alpha has more cleans, more jazz, and more melody, while Omega is definitely more extreme, but both styles are heavily present on both album! I'd suggest others to give each a complete spin once and you'll find a few more songs to love.
----
"A life all mine
Is what I choose
At the end of my days"
--The Gathering "A Life All Mine" from Souvenirs
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21.01.2015 - 17:20
Rating: 10
Susan
Smeghead
Written by OtherDoor on 21.01.2015 at 10:12

Yeah, I really want to hear this, even though something is telling me that it just might not click with me for some reason. Which is most often than not, vocals. Cool review though, I enjoy reading when the authors really are into the music.


Why wait?

Streaming here! The first half anyway: http://metalstorm.net/events/news_comments.php?news_id=25505
----
"A life all mine
Is what I choose
At the end of my days"
--The Gathering "A Life All Mine" from Souvenirs
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21.01.2015 - 19:53
Lit.
Account deleted
The self-titled was great, but the second was meh. Glad to see this is looking much better already. Definitely gonna listen to this later.
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21.01.2015 - 20:11
Marcus
Doit Like Bernie
I got the biggest, goofiest smile on my face near the end of MK Ultra, but I have to echo everyone else regarding the vocals
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21.01.2015 - 21:13
Risto
Wandering Midget
Written by Susan on 21.01.2015 at 17:20

Why wait?

Streaming here! The first half anyway: http://metalstorm.net/events/news_comments.php?news_id=25505

I'm waiting cause I can't access those videos. I've no idea who's responsible for the Nordic marketing.
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21.01.2015 - 21:21
Giza

Written by Risto on 21.01.2015 at 21:13

Written by Susan on 21.01.2015 at 17:20

Why wait?

Streaming here! The first half anyway: http://metalstorm.net/events/news_comments.php?news_id=25505

I'm waiting cause I can't access those videos. I've no idea who's responsible for the Nordic marketing.



What about the second half? https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVWT5waYZYnnGk0f6fuQffLUekGazg5ez
Works fine for me and I'm from Estonia.
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21.01.2015 - 23:37
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
Djent? *cringe* Thanks for the review - I might try this sometime.
----
rekt
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22.01.2015 - 17:47
♱ RaVeN ♱

I've never really dug this band mostly coz of the singer.. but listening to this now i have to say it's really enjoyable, probably their best release so far.
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22.01.2015 - 21:49
Shmyt

This review could not be more intriguing.
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23.01.2015 - 15:11
Karcas

Vocals ruin this for me big time... *sigh*
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23.01.2015 - 18:11
WinterMadness

This review might make me at least give them a second chance...
I hate djent, and I hate Spencer's emo clean vocals and -core harsh vocals, but eh well. I can't fairly say I hate the band if I haven't listened to their latest material.

Edit: Upon listening to a song from the album, (22 Faces), I actually hate it more than their older stuff. The vocals got (somehow) worse, and the blending of the djent guitar with the normal angsty-post-hardcore-guitar is even more maddening to listen to than the stupid djent tone alone.
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23.01.2015 - 20:54
StrongLariat

This is my first time listening to Periphery and I absolutely love these two albums!
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25.01.2015 - 15:57
Rating: 7
LeKiwi
High Fist Prog
Written by WinterMadness on 23.01.2015 at 18:11

This review might make me at least give them a second chance...
I hate djent, and I hate Spencer's emo clean vocals and -core harsh vocals, but eh well. I can't fairly say I hate the band if I haven't listened to their latest material.

Edit: Upon listening to a song from the album, (22 Faces), I actually hate it more than their older stuff. The vocals got (somehow) worse, and the blending of the djent guitar with the normal angsty-post-hardcore-guitar is even more maddening to listen to than the stupid djent tone alone.

"MK Ultra", "22 Faces", "Rainbow Gravity", and "Four Lights" are pretty boring tracks...so I'd skip those for sure.
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25.01.2015 - 21:38
FelixtheMetalcat

Written by WraithZero on 21.01.2015 at 09:16

This is probably just me but I'd really enjoy their stuff without the vocals.



Nope- I agree with you 100%. I have always felt they played some decent music but not really the type of progressive metal I prefer. The vocals on another hand, are awful. I have grown fed up with all the "core" & "death metal" polluting great progressvie metal. Better than half the time the bands aren't even prog even though the seem to be labeled as such.
Until this band actually learns to sing & dumps all "core", I will gladly pass no matter how much praise is thrown their way.
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28.01.2015 - 21:11
Dan The Viking

Hated it. Was eager to hear it with that high a rating.
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29.01.2015 - 09:26
HeavyWork

I completely disagree with this rating. Long gone are the days of self titled when they were at least half way decent. Vocals are cringeworthy and song writing is really uninspired.
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30.01.2015 - 19:36
ScnD361

what's bad with the vocals????, I don't understand you guys, I think its a matter of taste, but Spencer sings pretty well I think.
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31.01.2015 - 02:10
Asat0r

I think Spencer's an amazing vocalist. I can see how some people wouldn't like him though, just a matter of taste
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31.01.2015 - 06:28
UPDIRNS

Don't like vocals, Sounds like Linking Park. If they had a more aggressive vocalist they would kick ass. I like their style and musicianship is great, but not a fan of vocals which kills it for me. Sucks because I want to like them.
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15.03.2015 - 19:14
Panterica

Still haven't figured out how I feel about these albums, but I can't deny there are some really good songs in there.
While I find the review exaggerated, it's a matter of taste so I can't really argue with it. At least it encourages people to check their music, so good job on that
----
Li'ed - Prog-Metal from Jerusalem
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7aZWDrAAvDSLMaSmDSE8zA
https://www.facebook.com/LiedBandMusic
http://lied-band.bandcamp.com/
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22.07.2015 - 20:31
chronic-headache

Great music
Horrid Vocals
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