Under The Influence #92: Termina’s Nik Nocturnal on “Periphery II” by Periphery!

Almost nine years ago in June 2012, Washington DC DJentlemen Periphery returned with their sophomore album, the cunningly sub titled “This Time It’s Personal“, a reference to the fact that vocalist Spencer Sotelo sung the lyrics inked by now ex-Monuments frontman Chris Barreto during his stint in the band on their first record. Mastered by former Machine Head guitarist Logan Mader, it also saw the band joined by guitarist Mark Holcomb and bassist Adam “Nolly” Getgood who made their recording debuts. Add to that already interesting witches brew a trio of guest guitar solos from ex-The Faceless man Wes Hauch, John Petrucci of Dream Theater and Guthrie Govan and you have an album that is critically acclaimed and reached #3 on Guitar World’s records of the year for the year of its release, making it something that everyone can enjoy.

Nik Nocturnal (Guitarist/Producer) of Termina comments: “One of my favourite albums that has influenced me the most would probably be Periphery 2. This album was actually my introduction to “djent,” and after hearing a few tracks from it for the first time I was in absolute awe. The complexity of melodies and rhythms mixed with such a hard hitting, modern sound made me appreciate it not just from a guitarist’s standpoint, but also as a musician, writer and fan of heavy music“