The Quick And The Djent

The buzz surrounding Periphery has been undeniable during the past few years. The likes of Ghost and Kvelertak have released sensational, well-received debuts of late, but whether either experience the dreaded 'second album syndrome' still remains to be seen. Much like the aforementioned acts, the Maryland prog-metallers released a widely-lauded inaugural full-length. They unleashed second record, Periphery II, last year. Not only a vast improvement on their arguably over-hyped first effort, it cemented their place as a major player. It's also spawned a multitude of touring opportunities, including an upcoming US run with Deftones, as well as their first stint on the Soundwave Festival.

Axeman Jake Bowen is still amazed by just how many punters have cottoned on to the band, especially after only two studio albums. “Yeah, it really does because I always think about how my favourite bands have grown,” he admits. “A lot of my favourite bands have endured like ten years of nobody knowing who the hell they are, and then they finally have that breakthrough record that gets them that notoriety. A perfect example is Pantera. They were a band a decade before Cowboys From Hell came out, and soon as that came out finally everybody started paying attention. Obviously they changed their sound and image a little bit, but I feel like we kind of skipped that process. We had our fanbase developed online because of all the demos we were posting and then we released a record. Then that got us a more solidified fanbase, we toured, we released another record. So I feel that we got to skip over the initial building the fanbase with the releases, like most bands have to do. Just the fact that we're able to do this, I can't believe that it's working,” he laughs.

He's understating the fact when referring to the early online devotion the band inspired, well before they recorded a physical album. For a half-decade prior to the release of their self-titled debut, guitarist, producer and founder Misha 'Bulb' Mansoor developed an enviable reputation via the web. This was most notably achieved through musician and band forums, as well as a popular account at music-oriented social community site SoundClick. His postings of homemade recordings and interaction with fans created such an underground enthusiasm about his various projects – most notably Periphery – that industry players had no choice but to sit up and take notice.

Visit a site like got-djent.com and the expectation surrounding and dissection of anything the band releases borders on fanatical. Fans will have to wait a little while yet for the next record though – a concept piece reportedly titled Juggernaut. “Yeah, it seems like there's a big demand for people to hear new material already and I think that's cool,” Bowen enthuses. “I want Periphery II to go a little bit further, I want to stretch it out a little bit more. But I hope we live up to the fans' expectations, because Periphery II for us was a pretty successful record. I mean, in our scheme of things. We can only hope that our new stuff resonates just as well.

“We are writing it right now and we have a bunch of great demos going so far. Once we have enough material to piece together our concept record, then we'll go and record it. So it's going well. (The concept) has changed from what we discussed in our early band meetings about it, so I really couldn't tell you. It's really up to Spencer (Sotelo, vocals) and what his lyrical content will be. The only thing I know is there are going to be melodic themes that come back a few times in different contexts. The whole album is going to really be on one subject, whereas the last record we had three songs that were thematically linked. So this will be like a whole record of one idea, one story. The writing process just kinda takes as long as it's gonna take. We don't normally rush any of that stuff. Once everything is written though, it's usually a month to record everything. As long as we do our homework and write everything we'll be able to release something late this year or perhaps early next year.”

As a by-product of their substantial online presence and success of their albums, Periphery has also been pegged as one of the ring leaders of the much-touted, new heavy metal sub-genre dubbed 'djent' (pronounced 'gent'). Its gestation is largely attributed to Swedish time signature-bending metallers Meshuggah. However, lessons learned while recording II will ensure they seek to distance themselves from such pigeonholing; namely, by offering a more songwriting-focused edge.

“I think we succeeded (at that) with Periphery II because we were all involved as a band, and it wasn't just one person doing the bulk of the work. We were all in the studio for many, many hours and we were all writing and producing. Doing whatever we could to put out a band album. I always thought [djent] was kinda played out. Even years ago, I didn't necessarily… I always say this whenever I get asked about the djent thing, because it's a very sensitive topic for a lot of people. I think that a lot of 'djent' bands have elements, just like the very basic elements of the sound, but don't push it in any direction. They'll have the low-tuned guitars, and they'll have the clean, atmospheric passages over the down-tuned guitars, and over a groove. I feel like a lot of djent bands are missing the point. They're kinda just incorporating the elements, but not focusing on songwriting. I can't really relate to that; maybe at one point when it wasn't as used, but now I just don't get it,” he chuckles.

Over-categorisation or not, they are among the most anticipated metal outfits on this year's Soundwave line-up. It certainly won't just be a gathering of djent disciples when the band performs either, Periphery drawing converts from numerous sections of the heavy music spectrum. “I guess the fact that we have good people working for us over there,” Bowen says of their dedicated following Down Under, even after only a couple of previous visits. “We're still with Roadrunner in Australia and those guys have been really great to us. I think thanks to a lot of [their] hard work, we've been noticed. But also the word-of-mouth thing really helped a lot too. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have enabled us to communicate with our Australian fans. Then there's the obvious fact that it's hard to get to Australia, so when we come there, people are very willing to come see us.” Diehards can also expect some surprises at the festival and during their sideshows with Japanese mob Crossfaith. “We're going to play a couple of songs that we've never played live before,” Bowen reveals. “So there's definitely some incentive to come and check out our set.”

Periphery will be playing the following dates:

Saturday 23 February - Soundwave, Brisbane QLD
Sunday 24 February - Soundwave, Sydney NSW
Monday 25 February - The Espy Hotel, Melbourne VIC
Thursday 28 February - The Annandale Hotel, Sydney NSW
Friday 1 March - Soundwave, Melbourne VIC
Saturday 2 March - Soundwave, Adelaide SA
Monday 4 March - Soundwave, Perth WA