Protest the Hero, Periphery, Jeff Loomis Tour?!? YES.
Protest the Hero will hit the road in March and April along with Periphery, Jeff Loomis , The Safety Fire, and Today I Caught the Plague
3/25 Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
3/26 Lawrence, KS @ Granada
3/27 Dallas, TX @ Trees
3/28 Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
3/30 Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine
3/31 Phoenix, AZ @ Club Red
4/1 Los Angeles, CA @ Key Club
4/2 San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s
4/3 Portland, OR @ The Branx
4/4 Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
4/6 Salt Lake City, UT @ In The Venue
4/7 Denver, CO @ Summit
4/9 St. Louis, MO @ Pops
4/10 Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave II
4/11 Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
4/12 Columbus, OH @ The Outland Ballroom
4/13 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
4/14 Baltimore, MD @ Sonar
4/16 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
4/17 Orlando, FL @ The Social
4/18 Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theater
4/20 New York, NY @ Gramercy
4/22 Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
Obviously this is a pretty killer tour. You know my stance on Protest the Hero, and seeing them again will be great. Jeff Loomis has a new album coming out and besides that….it’s JEFF LOOMIS! Think of how much shred there will be at these shows! Throw Periphery in and you have yet another tour well worth seeing. Schweet.
-Chris
TesseracT’s video for “Eden” makes me hungry… I think.
I really like TesseracT, I do. At least, every time I listen to the band I do. The problem is that they never stick and I’m not really sure why. They’re just as good as any other Djent band out there. Hell, they’re probably better since they’ve been doing it so much longer. For whatever reason, I never find myself going, “hey I should listen to TesseracT” in the same way I want to listen to Textures, or Periphery. I feel much the same way about their new video for the track “Eden.”
For starters, this is a really pretty video. Seriously, the colors, camera work, editing and pacing all make this a really great video to watch. From there though, I’m not really sure what’s going on. There’s some apples hanging from the ceiling, everyone is wearing blindfolds, there are girls floating in a fish tank. Strange stuff, but nothing too strange as far as music videos are concerned. Then there is the jumping the shark moment. These blindfolded guys cut into one of the water girls’ chest and pull out a glowing cube. This glowing cube is then fed to the same girl (?) in the apple hanging room, while the other water girls flail about. That’s how it ends. I read the lyrics and for the most part, they seem to be talking about the destruction of the Earth, or something. I guess. I’m still unsure about how this fits in with the video, unless the director was going for a “destruction of Eden/ourselves” thing, which I could buy…
Anyway, take a gander and then tell us your interpretations. Hopefully they are miles better than mine!
-Dan
Wasted Wednesday- I See Stars and shudder.
Dear Sumerian Records,
Thank you for introducing me to The Faceless, Veil of Maya, and giving Periphery the chance to release an album on a widespread scale. With that said, I don’t think we can be friends anymore. No, not after you decided to sign and release unto the Earth I See Stars. At first, I thought, “generic emo garbage” but then I took a closer listen and realized nothing but copious amounts of Everclear and Sailor Jerry lit on fire could erase the memory of this audio abuse. Likewise, I feel sorry that Scott Hansen’s talents were wasted on this, as he is probably a decent guy whose name will now be forever attached to I See Stars. You’ve unleashed a horrendous beast upon the world and knowing this exists makes me kind of wish those May 21st peeps were right all along.
Sincerely,
-Dan
“Jetpacks” and video are “Yes” for Periphery.
Periphery debuted their latest video, for the grammatically challenged track “Jetpacks Was Yes!” over at NME. You can watch the video below or at the link.
This seems like an odd choice for a video to me. Granted, it is the slowest and most clean singing heavy of the tracks off their self-titled album, but it isn’t the most “radio-friendly.” Honestly, “Icarus Lives” was a much more “radio-friendly” track with a way more memorable chorus. However, “Jetpacks” is a much deeper song with some really intricate guitar work, spaced out electronics and a really, really well played solo from Misha Mansoor. In fact, I think the solo is more memorable than any of the vocals. Then again, in the age of the internet, those kinds of thoughts are completely irrelevant. One more check in the “I’m old” column.
Oh the video, that’s what we are talking about! It’s a decent video, with visuals that match the melancholic and tripped out atmosphere of the song, but for the most part it’s a pretty stock music video concept. Easily understandable but out of context story matched with performance footage. It sure is pretty though!
-Dan
Best of 2010; Periphery- Periphery
In my original review, I took Periphery to heat for the lackluster vocal abilities of Spencer Sotelo. That I’ve included the band’s debut on my top picks for the past year should tell you how much his vocals affected the musical quality. For good or ill, Sotelo simply proved to not be as defining a factor in the final decision of including this excellent release on this list. To state simply, this is just a good, solid album that you can return to again and again. It’s heavy, melodic and fun. You could sit here and analyze the hell out of it, but also turn it on and just bang your head. That delicate balance and mix is what makes this release such a killer album.
As I listen to it more and more, I find myself enjoying the band’s mixture of sounds. Knowing that many of these songs are several years old now, it will be interesting to see where Periphery go from here, but until then their self-titled album is straight up solid. It stands shoulder to shoulder with many of the big names that came out this year, which certainly bodes well for the band. Ignore the hate towards the vocals, even if they come from my mouth, because Periphery is a soild, engaging and excellent release.
-Dan
2010-The touring year?
The year is coming to a close and as I am getting more and more overloaded with the realities of life, I am finding less and less time to sit down and review albums. I have yet to check out one of my most anticipated releases, 36 Crazyfists’ Collisions and Castaways, and that’s been out since July! I am sure there have been a few others that have slipped through the cracks, but honestly I don’t really have the time. Still, the year coming to a close obviously means that I am required, as a wannabe metal blogger, to come up with a year end list.
The topic actually came up when Chris and I were heading to Alice in Chains this past Monday and I found that I could barely rattle off ten albums I would deem worthy. Is this because I haven’t listened to much? Hardly! I’ve reviewed plenty. So what is it? Has nothing made that much of an impression? Possibly. I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s something else though. I have been to more concerts this year than I have in the whole of 2009, and it’s not because I’m better off financially. No, it seems that 2010 has been a bonafide touring year for bands, and with the plethora of great releases that came out in 2009, it makes sense. January was the BTBAM/Townsend/Cynic/STS tour, saw Iron Maiden, Summer Slaughter, a whole host of small time bands… and there are still more shows to come! Veil of Maya is coming to my former place of residence, there’s that Periphery tour, the Clutch/Black Label Society/Children of Bodom tour… it’s been a big tour year.
So, obviously with all these tours that means less albums, right? Well, no. What I’ve done, instead of buying albums, is go around and take full advantage of all these smaller bands and their need to distribute. I think my computer is running slow because so many bands have offered LP’s and EP’s up for free download and I’ve been more than happy to indulge! I’m currently listening to Celeste’s Morte(s) Nee(s) and enjoying it quite a bit. I didn’t really give it a chance before, but I’m finding it to be pretty damn good. Contender for year end list? I guess we’ll find out in another two months…
All this said, it’s going to be damn hard for me to pick a list. Damn hard.
-Dan
Periphery-Periphery
The diversity of the current metal scene is something to be celebrated, even with admittedly short lived trends (deathcore, metalcore, folk metal) giving lots of people reason to hate. However, the diversity of the current scene is also responsible for acts such as Washington D.C. based Periphery, who on their self titled debut showcase a love of all that has been a part of metal for the past 5-10 years. Mixing Meshuggah like odd timed chugs, with spacey atmoshperics, epic choruses, and proggy awareness, Periphery fires on all cylinders, showcasing immense talent amidst some fantastic songwriting.
The album begins with the very loud statement made by “Insomnia” treating us to a spacey intro before heading into Meshuggah land. However, this isn’t just some little core band trying to appear more metal than they actually are, as the band prove with the heavier (and lacking in clean vocals) “The Walk.” Guitarist Misha “Bulb” Mansoor proves himself an adept riffer and soloist throughout the album, providing an almost middle eastern near shred in the aforementioned “The Walk.” “Totala Mad” features some very impressive three part guitar work, melding harmonies, sweeps, scales, shreds and that little thing the band call “djent” all into one complex, yet accessible sound. While they do get somewhat nu-metal on “Icarus Lives!” and it’s up to individual taste if the electronic fueled “Jetpacks Was Yes!” is any good or not, there’s no denying that Periphery aren’t adventurous and aware of all the places metal has gone in the last few years.
The biggest detractor to the album however is vocalist Spencer Sotelo. You could very easily categorize him as “emo” and I don’t think many would argue. Considering how strong and powerful the band is, coupled with their adventurous spirit and immense talent, it’s really a bummer that Spencer can’t quite match up vocally. His range is limited and screams nowhere near as powerful as they should be, but I guess you could look at it the same way you look at Dream Theater; it’s all about the music and that guy who just happens to sing.
Despite needing some better vocals, Periphery have debuted with one of the strongest releases from a new band in awhile. It’s a forward thinking, genre spanning slab of metal that doesn’t forsake good songwriting for “guitar wank” and should send Periphery into the status of leaders of the new breed of metal.
“Icarus Lives” in Peripher(y)al vision.
I’ll admit, I haven’t quite jumped on the Periphery bandwagon. Ive always thought musically they were good, but not quite “mind blowing.” However, the video the band has released for their upcoming Sumerian debut, featuring the track “Icarus Lives,” is pretty damn catchy and I’ll admit, it got my head bobbing. The fine folks at Metal Injection debuted it, and you can watch it below!
-Dan
