First impressions
Album is in the wild. This is in no way a review, we all know Periphery songs take time to digest but here's some quick thoughts after a couple playthroughs.
Obsession - Damn this is Haunted Shores as fuck, P4 fans and those who think Reptile is their best song will love this, probably the most black metal song they've ever done, very short and to the point which is a nice breath of fresh air from the long opening tracks they've had on the last couple albums.
Talk - This one will take awhile I'm sure, I wasn't feeling it at first but I can tell it's a grower, Misha has said the chorus was wrote by Matt suprisngly enough, quite P1 sounding at times with the stacatto patterns. From what lyrics I could make out it seems very personal, looking forward to playing through this all with the lyrics so I can take it all in because this song seems really cathartic with it's subject matter.
Mr. God - It's the most Meshuggah worship I've heard from them, fun to play on drums and I love all the accent work, the bridge is great but I wish it was more expanded on.
Heaven on High - This is the song to show someone who doesn't know the band. It's the Wax Wings or Scarlet or Marigold of the album and does a great job capturing their whole sound in a bottle so to speak. Great single choice for the album release. Also that chorus really gives me Breaking Benjamin vibes, tell me you can't hear Ben Burnley singing that chorus.
Unlocking - I can see this one being the forgotten gem on the album that you don't hear too much of but I really dig this one. The "unlocking" refrain is beautiful and the song really captures the vibe of someone finally getting out of something toxic or freeing themselves from some burden.
Subhuman - Fuck. Yes. No question the heaviest song they have ever made. I can't even tell where Spencer ends and Will begins it's just a 3 minute assault on the ears in the best way possible. Yes it's very Spiritbox sounding.
Blackwall - It's the obligatory electronic song on the album. If you like silhouette or crush you'll probably like this, didn't hear much to latch onto personally I think it would have been better suited to Four Seconds Ago.
Malevolent - Oh this sounds like a Juggernaut song and I'm so here for it, the 1 minute mark onwards definitely scratches that itch as well as the chorus, still sad we never got a Juggernaut sequel. Can see this being a fan fave for a lot and that ending is sick as fuck.
Carry On - Absolute whiplash from that peaceful intro to the heaviness. Wonder if it was done on purpose to lull people into thinking "oh this is the radio friendly one". The last minute is one of the best things they've wrote.
Neon Valley - Easily my fave song on the album, it's everything I want from this band and why I love them. I can easily see this creeping into my top 5 songs already. It's got the infectious melodies, the chorus has that classic Periphery progression with that Final Fantasy-esque modulation. 3:30 onwards is absolute peak Periphery. I can't see anyone being a fan and not liking this song.
Everyone Dies Alone - Probably some of the best drumming from
Matt to date, that bridge drum solo is up there with the ending of Masamune in terms of "what the fuck is going on here". Great hooky chorus and I'm sure it's a song that speaks to most people's biggest fear. Having the last lyrics of the album be "everyone dies alone" is very poignant.
A Pale White Dot -Acoustic closer, all instrumental, thank god. The 15 minute epic closers are played out. This album really feels like the band went against what people expected of them, even down to not giving it a numbered silly album title and I'm all for it. From the interview Misha had with Nic Nocturnal you can tell they just dreaded doing P6 and felt it would be stale and uninspired so I'm all for them stripping things back and really delving to the core of what makes Periphery sound like they do.
All in all this seems to be the whole band's collective input from their side projects blending into Periphery's sound for better or worse. Also I don't know if Spencer has toned down the "whinyness" but his voice does sound pretty different to the point where I had to second guess if there was another guest spot at certain times, I don't know if it's his enunciation but he almost sounds like a completely different singer which may bring around those still on the Spencer hate train from back in the P2 days. "He hits the notes but the notes themselves are gay" throwback anyone?
No interludes or segues between songs which I think is a pro and a con, it cuts the fat and it became very self indulgent on P5 but I do miss the motifs and it can feel a bit incohesive going from the beatdown of Subhuman to Blackwall, or Mr. God just coming in out of nowhere since the intro sounds like it would flow from the previous track when it doesn't.
We will see how it holds up over the years to come but I do prefer it to P5 already. What do you guys think?