Periphery – Gig Review & Photo Gallery 9th February @ Capitol, Perth WA

Posted on February 11, 2017 by Ricky Aarons

PERIPHERY
Captiol, Perth WA
February 9^th, 2017
Supports – Chaos Divine & Make Way For Man

The last time Periphery toured Australia, they didn’t quite make it over to the west, but we can certainly forgive them as this time they came round to pay their dues, winding up their ‘Select Difficulty’ Australian tour. The American outfit just about sold out Capitol, which is pretty damn impressive for a rainy Thursday night in Perth. Joining Periphery were locals Chaos Divine and Make Way for Man; a real contrast of old and new Perth musicians.

Having quite recently emerged onto the scene, Make Way for Man have certainly spread their name thick by supporting a growing list of impressive international names in the past year or so. The band performed a handful of technical tracks that were in fact quite reminiscent of Periphery’s musical style. The two vocalists growled and sung together in unison, creating an interesting sound together. The locals were energetic, excited and clearly grateful to be playing to such a large crowd; circle pits included.

West Aussie veterans Chaos Divine came on stage, all in black to rub their hands together and do what they do best. The prog-rockers played their best set I have seen in a long time, if not ever. Launching into older tunes from the get-go, Chaos Divine acknowledged fans’ preferences for the heavier end of their catalogue. The band produced perfect renditions of tracks from ‘The Human Connection’, with some great, deep sound flowing through the venue. Punters were engaging in some emphatic head-banging in preparation for the headliners. Chaos Divine certainly proved they still have some steam left, with the same passion and excitement they started with many years ago.

Well, the room was packed, merch was being sold like hotcakes, and the people were ready. They were ready for the masterminds behind Periphery to boast their talents in true humble form – and boy, did they deliver. At 10pm sharp, the house-lights dimmed and a ruby stage-light with the six-piece band. Despite being the final leg of the tour, vocalist Spencer Sotelo brought the ruckus. The front man’s energy and vocal accuracy was simply on point, hitting all the clean notes, and bellowing immensely fresh growls.

The thing about Periphery is, they’re not just your average prog-metalcore band, but rather a virtuosic team of experimenters. Therefore, merely observing each of the guitarists put on a display of acute perfection was truly remarkable. The band were smiling as they all moved across the stage to play next to one another, sharing the heavier and the more mellow sections of the setlist.

The band delved into some of the new tracks from their latest album, but also touched on a few gems from their past few releases. The chorus of ‘Flatline’ was a stand-out during the evening as it was a real sing-along. Crowd-surfing was consistent, with a punter who kept returning to the stage and even once trying to give Sotelo a kiss which was humorously refused. The band continued through their set, belting out an intoxicatingly sweet rendition of ‘The Price is Wrong’ before thanking the crowd and leaving the stage.

We all knew Periphery were coming back to grace the stage one last time, and they chose the perfect opener for the triad of tunes. ‘Four Lights’ was delivered in a djent-errific (see what I did there) way. The deep, deep riffs pounded through the venue in a very Meshuggah-esque kind of way. Once again, it must be reiterated how talented each of the musicians are in Periphery and how clear it was by watching each individual musician on stage. We sure are looking forward to what the band come up with next.

– Ricky Aarons

Setlist: