Review by Adam M on August 23, 2016.

Periphery is back for another attack on the senses. This music is more straightforward than the last album Juggernaut, but no less poignant.

There is a violent nature to some of the opening tracks on the album, but soon we're given the variety the band is so capable of. There are more ballad type tracks that involve clean singing. It is these moments of clean vocal usage that are the most successful for the outfit. They have the ability to wrap around you and maintain a catchiness that is unbelievable to behold. Once the listener manages to sit through the first couple of songs, there are a number of memorable moments to behold. The moments of harshness are contrasted with those that are done in clean fashion. The contrast on this album is as strong as the greatest of Opeth albums. However, there are also progressive moments like the Tool type portions of Flatline or the classical influenced portions of Absolomb and Lune that add an even greater dimension to the material. When taken as a whole, there is enough variety to really make an impact. Also, while the imbalance of the album may disconcert immediately, one quickly gets used to the order of attack the band is aiming at. Patience is easily payed off as some of the greater moments of the album appear within the latter portions of the disc. I still found there were some memorable portions that stuck out slightly more from the Juggernaut album. Periphery III: Select Difficulty still has a lot of catchy portions that are simply irresistible, however.

Once the listener gets used to the material, it unfolds in a number of beautiful directions. One could argue that this music is too much of the same, but the band constantly seem to be pushing forward with new and improved ideas. Periphery III: Select Difficulty should find fans from a number of different genres and it is certainly deserving of praise.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10