Progressive metal act Periphery have announced a new album, Periphery V: Djent Is Not a Genre, which drops March 10th. In advance of the LP, the band has unveiled two new songs, “Wildfire” and “Zagreus.”
The album continues Periphery’s string of tongue-in-cheek titles, following 2019’s Periphery IV: Hail Stan.
While Periphery might take a self-deprecating stance on being labeled “djent” — a particularly complex style of prog — they’re not about to change their stylistic approach. Both “Wildfire” and “Zagreus” are very djent and boast all the intricacies and prog workouts their fans have come to adore. “Wildfire” has plenty of kinetic riffing, but is more melodically based; meanwhile, “Zagreus” is a darker eight-minute composition with some surprising musical asides along the way.
Periphery spent more time working on the new album than any other release in their discography. That explains why the band went quiet after Hail Stan, slow cooking the follow-up LP throughout the pandemic.
“We challenged and pushed ourselves harder, and along the way we grew even closer as a band,” guitarist Mark Holcomb remarked in a press release. “We are so proud of the final results! I also wanted to mention how exceedingly grateful we are to our fans for being so patient in waiting for this record. We wanted to show our appreciation by giving you two songs today instead of one. We have a very busy 2023 and 2024 planned so we’ll see you on the road!”
Added founding guitarist Misha Mansoor: “I’m really proud of the material and it was certainly a labor of love and a tough album to make. The feeling that we were going to have to give up because it kept taking so long was so overwhelming at times, that to not just overcome it, but to feel so proud of this album has really galvanized us as a band in a way that I don’t think any other experience could have.”
Periphery V: Djent Is Not a Genre will drop amidst Periphery’s US spring tour supporting Underoath. The month-long outing kicks off March 3rd in Silver Spring, Maryland, and wraps up April 2nd in Nashville, Tennessee. Pick up tickets via Ticketmaster.
Pre-order Periphery’s new album in multiple formats via their online merch store. Below you can stream the new singles and see the album art and tracklist.
Periphery V: Djent Is Not a Genre Artwork:
Periphery V: Djent Is Not a Genre Tracklist:
01. Wildfire
02. Atropos
03. Wax Wings
04. Everything is Fine!
05. Silhouette
06. Dying Star
07. Zagreus
08. Dracul Gras
09. Thanks Nobuo