periphery

The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 333 (4.27.2024)

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playlist - mixtape

Happy frickin’ Saturday and welcome to the 333rd edition of our weekly mixtape, aka The Nine Circles Playlist. It’s been an insane few weeks release wise so between that and the nearly infinite possibilities of music picks we’ve got a killer playlist for you here this week. I kick things off with 200 Stab Wounds because…hell yea and an acoustic version of a favorite Periphery song of mine. Spoiler here: I do miss Matt Halpern’s presence behind the kit but this track still rules. Elsewhere, our esteemed team of 9C writers have their own favorites to share which include cuts from Hail Spirit Noir, Alcest, YOB, Zeal and Ardor, Zelenaya, Darkthrone, and a ton more.

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week. Oh, Chris will probably be back next week. He’s off doing metal stuff in case you were wondering.

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— Josh

Best of 2023: Josh’s List

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Best of 2023

Once more around a year we’ve travelled. Pending your vantage point on 2023 it was either good or it sucked, there wasn’t much, if any, middle ground. Things are…well…out of control on all sorts of levels, those same things are spiraling so far that I’m not sure we’ll ever get them back to any kind of norm, and…need I go on? Obviously not since we’re all in this together. “So how then would it have been a ‘great’ year?” you ask. By focusing inward on you and yours and disappear into it. I did that—still doing it—and it was, and is, damn tremendous. I’m in the best shape of my life in nearly all aspects and had a killer soundtrack to go with it. Ah yes, and there it is…the reason we’re here: the best of MY 2023 in metal. Let’s jump ahead shall we…

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The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 312 (12.02.2023)

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We’re here, folks. The End Times. The End (of year) Times. And like a soaring eagle, daring us to fly so high is Bruce Dickinson, giving us the first single from his forthcoming solo album The Mandrake Project. Truly we live in wonder. Not only that, but the reigning king of emo black metal (fight me) Këkht Aräkh is back with a new single as well. All that and Cryptosis ripped my head off with a new EP this morning. December looks good, is what I’m sayin’…

Enough of my yuletide joys. The rest of the 9C crew is decking the halls with righteous metal, including more Panopticon from the newly released Rime of Memory (spoiler: it’s the AOTM for November), and tracks from Persefone, In Flames (ignore the haters, because Foregone is FIRE) Celeste, the righteous rock of the ’68, the newly remixed and remastered Sunbather from Deafheaven, a little dash of Decipher and Vomitory, as well as more surprises. Finally we bring it home with a classic track from The Pogues. Rest in Peace, Shane MacGowan. No one did it like you, and you were instrumental to broadening the horizons of a young punk in 1990 when he heard Rum Sodomy & the Lash for the first time (even though the track picked was from If I Should Fall From the Grace of God).

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week.

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– Chris

The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 275 (3.18.2023)

ChrisLeave a comment

playlist - mixtape

He saw the light flash like a child’s sparkler on the 4th of July. It registered for an instant, then faded in the roar of the explosion reverberating in the open air. There was an odor that he couldn’t identify by name (it was cordite, not really used in gunpowder mixtures since the end of WWII) but instinctually knew. All of this happened in the space between synapses before his body acknowledged the impact of the bullet that – according to the laws of physics – he should have noticed before the sound of the revolver, or indeed the smell. As he dropped to the ground, consciousness slowly fading into the ether he had one solitary, lonely thought:

“What’s going to kick off the 275th edition of the Nine Circles Playlist?”

“The title track from the new Night Demon album,” a voice we only hear at the end of our life’s thread replied.

What’s the rest of the staff listening to? How about Boris, new Frozen Soul, Sortilege, Noxium Ferus, Lunar Chamber, Hideous Divinity, Paraphilia, Úlfúð and Afsky, not to mention the “correct” mix of a classic Megadeth song. There’s also tracks from Midwife & Vyva Melinkolya, Catherine Wheel, Mrs. Piss, old school love with Exodus and Exumer, a brutal throwback to Death Grips and much more.

Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week…

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– Chris

Album RAMBLE: Periphery — “Periphery V: Djent Is Not A Genre”

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Periphery - Periphery V Djent Is Not a Genre


We (the Top Brass, Benevolent Overlords, etc: Corey, Dan K, Chris, and Josh) had so much fun drunkenly rambling about Sky Void of Stars and Foregone that we decided to come back for round three! This time around, we’re taking a first dive (some of us actually followed this rule) into Periphery V, the highly anticipated new album from djent stars Periphery. Josh is very much aware and familiar with the Periphery discography while the rest of the group is very much unaware. So. How shall this go with that in mind? Will Josh be the only one left standing? Will we collectively end up new fans after this? We ask the hard questions around here, and rarely answer them. But, maybe this time something will be answered.

Need a reminder of how this works? Sure, you can have one. We pick an album off the promo pile we’re interested in, we get drunk, and we share our first impressions. Cohesive reviews can be hard, and we don’t get paid for this shit. Deal with it. Let’s fucking go!

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