It wouldn’t feel hyperbolic to call Periphery one of the most influential metal bands of the last fifteen years, bold of a statement as that may be. Listening to the hefty djent-style guitar riffs and modern mixes that dominate the alternative scene of today, it’s remarkably easy to trace a line all the way back to records like ‘Periphery II’ in 2012: if anything, Mansoor’s work has been emulated so faithfully that it now almost blends in with the crowd. Now on new release ‘A Pale White Dot,’ it’s Periphery themselves who’re taking inspiration from those around them.

Though the ‘progressive’ label has always been vaguely attached to Periphery, you can really feel their desire to break out of djent on this project in particular. Right from the off, the band are hitting you with hazy electronic soundscapes, and those programmed flavours go on to become mainstays on ‘A Pale White Dot.’ It’s for this reason that, in current year, it seems as if Mansoor and company are pulling from the modern metal scene around them, rather than walking a path of their own making— regardless, it must be said that Periphery integrate these distant keyboards and sequenced drums into their sound far more naturally than many of their peers. On ‘Obsession,’ those atonal bleeps and bloops break into relentless trem-picked riffs and wailed vocals that veer far from the band’s usual wheelhouse, and it’s a relief to hear them mixing things up after two decades in the game. As the rare Periphery album with no colon in its title, ‘A Pale White Dot’ does manage to carve out its own identity within the group’s catalogue.

And yet even on that striking opener, the band are far more abandoning their usual style, launching themselves into your typical djent breakdown to close out the cut. Periphery fans are being given a metric tonne of bulbous down-tuned riffs to chew on here, whether they’re diving into the gnarly dissonance of ‘Mr. God’ or the greatly anthemic standout ‘Talk.’ These songs do still feel like an evolution of the group’s signature style, but any listeners who could get on board with the cheery jazz bridge of past single ‘Wildfire’ should have no problem getting on board with these modern arrangements: if anything, Periphery’s efforts to rejuvenate a once cutting-edge sound don’t always go far enough. For a band who confidently declared that ‘Djent Is Not A Genre’ on 2023’s ‘Periphery V,’ they sure do stay well within its guidelines for much of ‘Malevolent’ and ‘Neon Valley.’ After a while, Sotelo’s raspy vocal style will start to grate on you, as will those bludgeoning guitar parts that just keep on coming.

What we have here, then, is a grab-bag of ideas old and new— ‘A Pale White Dot’ is quite exciting for the reckless abandon Periphery have taken in its creation, but it hasn’t led to the most consistent or cohesive record of their careers. ‘Subhuman’ is easily the most brainless number here, placing Will Ramos’ guest vocals way out front with only the most predictable of guitar chugs behind him: the following ‘Blackwell,’ which is essentially Periphery’s take on synth music, will absolutely blindside you after such an aggressive cut, but however jarring its inclusion may be, we still have to concede that its skulking melodies have their hooks in us. ‘A Pale White Dot’ can’t seem to settle on what tone it’s going for, frequently throwing ballads at you without rhyme or reason— they tend to be a little overly sentimental, but there’s little arguing with the wonderful Misha Mansoor solo on ‘Heaven on High’ or the wistful acoustic guitar work that closes out the record. It’s just hard to say if all these disparate ideas belong on this one tracklist.

Periphery’s newest album is still indicative of a band who pioneered their sound years ago: you can feel confidence and technical prowess shining through all across this record, which brings some excellent highlights to the table. What ‘A Pale White Dot’ betrays, though, is a feeling of directionless within the group. For all its electronic excursions, melancholic moods and thunderous riffs, the project feels a little disconnected from itself— this is a release we’ll return to for its standout moments, if not for the entire album experience.