I’m too old for this shit.
There, I’ve said it. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve listened to enough heavy music in my lifetime that this is somewhat old hat. When a friend introduced Periphery to me, I was pretty impressed with their stuff which was a current form of prog metal that sounds more current, as opposed to the something that is an 80’s throwback[1].
Just a short digression, I’d like to say that I first got to know of the band when my friend played this beautiful RM10k Ibanez at Bentley in KL:
I then bought three of their albums on iTunes (Clear EP, Juggernaut: Alpha and Juggernaut: Omega). I’ve to say the one tune that I had taken a liking to was the very much lighter The Summer Jam from Clear[2]. And therein lies the problem. I kinda listened to The Summer Jam mostly and not much else!
The gig tix was a mere £14 and also a Saturday night, so I thought it would be a good idea to see them live. As for Periphery’s two opening acts, I only managed to catch Veil of Maya’s deathcore set. Very tight, but not my cup of tea. Periphery got onstage at about half nine-ish and kicked off the set with something so unfamiliar. It turned out that it was a song from that one album that I didn’t buy – their 2012 effort, This Time It’s Personal[3].
I have a very simple reason why it took a bit of effort to enjoy the show[4]. I hadn’t listen to their songs as much as I should/?could. Don’t get me wrong, though. This is one tight unit (as all djent bands are). The Misha Mansoor/Jake Bowen/Mark Holcomb guitar triumvirate was just out of this world and solidly supported by “Nolly” Getgood’s thunderous basslines and the gigantic Matt Halpern on drums.
Nope, didn’t recognise a single tune, but I was nevertheless blown over. I’ll promise to listen more and try to see them again the next time they drop by in the UK. And for the first time in a very long while, I didn’t bring a camera. Here’s just one crappy shot on the iPhone:
Academy 2, Manchester University 14.11.15 set: Muramasa / Ragnarok / Masamune / Psychosphere / The Scourge / Make Total Destroy / Icarus Lives! / The Bad Thing / Alpha // [Encore] 22 Faces / Four Lights / Stranger Things
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[1]What? WHAT?!!
[2]The EP showcases pieces written by each member of the band.
[3]Not available on iTunes UK for some bizarre reason.
[4]The incident in Paris occurred a day before this show. I have to admit that I was a tad apprehensive as well.