Review Summary: The closest thing to a Juggernaut between the two albums.
I could begin this review with a makeshift encyclopedic entry of Periphery's history and why they’re a great/awful example of a modern progressive metal band. Instead, I’ll simply put it like this: for better or worse, Periphery is one of the more prominent bands within the growing djent movement, and will ultimately be remembered amongst the hordes of other bands when the genre’s hype finally dies down. And after the release of
Periphery II, they knew that a change of pace was necessary to keep things interesting and to keep their fans engaged. So, they decided to split their third full-length release into a double album. Unfortunately,
Juggernaut: Alpha was a decent but ultimately unsatisfying experience, missing far more than it hit and packed with filler. With
Juggernaut: Omega, however, Periphery manage to correct many of the mistakes they made on the first half of the album, as well as improve marginally over their previous work.
Going into
Omega, the first thing you’ll pick up on is the production style. The guitars feel very compressed, and the vocals are often layered several times over. This can get quite annoying at some points, particularly on “Priestess”, but for the most part, it’s not too much of a problem. Despite the distinct lack of guitar solos, Misha Mansoor pulls off his leads competently, and Jake Bowen, Adam Getgood, and Mark Holcomb make good use of their parts on the rhythm guitar and bass respectively. Most of the songs on here are far more impressive and memorable than those on
Alpha, including “The Bad Thing”, “Stranger Things”, and the mammoth track “Omega”. There is some nice contrast between the more subtle moments, such as the brief piano/synth intro in “Omega”, and the chuggier, more heavy sections in songs such as “Hell Below”. The album as a whole feels a lot heavier and more aggressive than
Alpha, which actually works out pretty well, since the poppier sections of
Omega’s predecessor could become monotonous and, at their worst, downright cringe-worthy.
And this leads straight into the most controversial part of the album: Spencer Sotelo’s vocals. It’s undeniable that Sotelo is a talented vocalist, and that he does have a very distinct style of singing. However, his clean vocals can become a bit much at times, and the aforementioned vocal layering doesn’t help things at all. Hell, there are even moments where he comes off as a poor imitation of Chester Bennington, and that’s really saying something. This is made even worse by the horrendous lyrics, with masterful prose such as,
”Fly past the trees, ascend to holy air and breathe/Far from the leaves, transcend the fucking boundaries”.
All-in-all,
Juggernaut: Omega is a solid, albeit slightly forgettable piece of work. If you’re already a Periphery fan, you’re going to have a field day with this one. But for those hoping to get into the band for the first time, it might be a better idea to start with one of the first two albums. Truth be told,
Omega won’t do much to impress anybody who disliked any of Periphery’s previous work. At the end of the day, though, it’s still a fun ride for those who are willing to look past its imperfections.
