Periphery "HAIL STAN" Album Review

By: James Southworth
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

The world of metalcore and djent wouldn't be nearly as interesting without a band like Periphery a part of it. My first introduction to them was with "Juggernaut: Omega", and at the time, the sound was just a little bizarre to me. Now when I come back to it, I'm just forever thankful that it got me into a lot more metal subgenres. I soon became obsessed with Periphery, and now am a pretty big fan of them. I currently consider "Juggernaut: Alpha" to be their best work, but all their work is really, really good. Every band member is immensely talented, and work together to make a sound that is iconic and doesn't really belong to any other band. Even if I would say that the band's last "Select Difficulty" is the "weakest" of Periphery's albums, it still found the band doing interesting things and releasing one of their best songs ever in "Marigold". So I was definitely excited for "HAIL STAN". This is probably the surprising release I've heard this year, as Periphery takes their sound and upends it in all sorts of directions- and pretty much all of them work. This is a stellar album, and it's quite possibly the band's best.

The band wastes no time in going absolutely crazy, with the opening track "Reptile" being their longest track at sixteen minutes. Sixteen minutes! There are not too many bands out there that are able to hold my attention that long with a singular song. But when I saw the tracklist for this album, this song was the one I was most excited about. I had no doubts that the band could do a prog-metal track right. And somehow, even with no doubts in my mind, the band exceeded my exceeded my expectations. This song is insane, but a calculated insanity. There are so many different musical movements in the song as it gives a rather harrowing critique of the times America is living in right now. The band is darkly satirical in how they talk about the current political climate through a specific character's eyes, saying "Shutting out politics/Viewing beings as equals/Ain't it funny how that makes sense?/You had the floor, but you gave it a bore". There's plenty more to commend about this song. The guitar work throughout is just top-tier, and the drumming is unbelievably talented in every moment. There are times when the song feels like a cinematic overture, other times when it delves into full-on metal, and the song even has what is, in my opinion, one of the band's best breakdowns. This is an ambitious song, and it pays off. I see myself coming back to it a lot. There's so many intricacies to it that it's impossible to get them all just on a couple of listens. The album takes a total regime change (something rather typical for this release) with "Blood Eagle", which might possibly be the band's most intense song to date. The guitar tones in this song are just insane and brutal. It's impossible to not head bang along to them. This song is pure hype fuel, and also introduces a common theme in this album of using religious imagery. This song talks about both Christianity and Norse religion, and somehow it doesn't create a cognitive dissonance, since both religions are known for their war-torn pasts. I think the band might be making a critique on that with this song, but they could also just be having fun. Or it could be both, and there's nothing wrong with that. This song is lyrically intriguing, but it's also shamelessly enjoyable. This is one of the most intense songs I've heard in a while, and it was a great choice for a lead single.

For as brutal as "Blood Eagle" is, "CHVRCH BVRNER" is almost equally intense, with some elements that bring to mind deathcore. This song is definitely a more pointed critique at religion, as the song talks about this hypocritical priest's viewpoints on certain things. The song is pretty disturbing and has some rather haunting imagery, so I think the hard hitting musicality only serves to accentuate the mood. Spencer sounds suitably angry here, letting his screams hit some really high points. It seems sort of fitting that we get a more ethereal religious discussion in what is my favorite song on the album, "Garden in the Bones". This is the second single on the album, and as I've heard it, the more I've been impressed by it. I like the interesting allusions to Native American spirituality here, and how the band questions just how much control we have in the world. It's interesting to see a secular band actually considering the possibility of a spiritual entity existing, making this song far more complex than on initial glance. The lyric "Am I losing control?" suddenly begins to feel like it has more meaning. And by the way, the chorus of this track is simply gorgeous. Spencer really lets his vocals shine here throughout the whole song, but the chorus takes his vocals to a place that is quite incredible. It does help that this song feels like the most classic Periphery track on the album; it even feels like a throwback to "Periphery II", which is obviously a good thing. I can't go without commending Misha, Jake, and Mark's excellent guitar work here. Matt Halpern really drives this song forward even more with his intriguing drum patterns. This song is clear evidence that this band has so much chemistry. It helps that all the members have been together for so long together, and this song is really an indicator of what they can do when they are firing on all cylinders.

This album continues to stay delightfully unpredictable and stellar in its second half. "It's Only Smiles" is a beautiful ode to someone who has passed on. Spencer assures whoever this is that, although their life will be surely missed, that he'll still attempt to be smiling because that would be what they would want him to do. This song has a lot of rather pop-influenced moments. The verses almost feel straight out of a pop/punk album, and the chorus has a flair to where it could almost be compared to a good Billboard Hot 100 song. If there were any justice in the world, this song would chart. This song is proof of the band's undying versatility. Just a couple tracks ago, they gave us their most brutal song, and now they're giving us perhaps their most catchy and accessible to date. Following this is a somehow even more surprising song, the synth/EDM driven track "Crush". I promise I'm not joking, and I also promise this track works better than it sounds like it should. The band really just go all in on this genre, not cheating out of it or trying to only do the bare minimum. And of course, it helps that all the members are talented and make the synths sound deep and complex. There is still plenty of real instrumentation driving this song as well. The sick bass groove done by Adam Getgood is one of the biggest highlights of this album as a whole. The song unexpectedly ends on a symphony playing, and it put a big smile on my face. It felt like the perfect way to end out this perfectly insane track. "Sentient Glow" is the only other track on here that I would say feels like it would fit on another older Periphery album, and once again, this is not a bad thing. In fact, this song is also a significant favorite of mine. It really brings the best aspects of the band to the forefront in a tight four and a half minutes. It also helps that the lyrics are quite poignant: "I've had enough of this/I have to trust I will pull through/This is the end/Don't ask how we lost our way/Follow the stars to the place where we used to lay". I'm not sure if I have the words to describe the ending track "Satellites". It is a pure epic, and an emotional tearjerker. This is the perfect way to end the album, combining tragedy and beauty together to make a beautiful picture. The only thing that slightly ruins this song is a quippy remark at the end that just feels tone-deaf. But otherwise, the song is pitch perfect, and you can end the song without hearing the stupid remark at the end.

The only song that I could point out that doesn't completely work for me is "Follow Your Ghost", which feels like it replicates "The Bad Thing" just a bit too much. Still, even this song is not really that bad in the long run. I think I can comfortably say this album is a masterpiece. There are so many songs here that are wonderful, and several are almost certainly among the band's best work. I can't say for certain whether I think this is the band's best work, but if it isn't, it ranks at a close number two. It's only maybe beaten by "Alpha", but repeated listens may change my opinion in the future. I promise you you're missing out if you don't listen to this album. Please, check it out!

Favorite Songs: "Garden in the Bones", "Sentient Glow", "Satellites", "Reptile", "Blood Eagle", "Crush"
Least Favorite Songs: "Follow Your Ghost"