Periphery release epic, yet repetitive new album

Periphery's debut album was kind of overrated. There were nothing but good songs and yet nothing really stood out with the exception of a few songs. That's how their new album Periphery II: This Time It's Personal plays out. While certain songs like the "Facepalm Mute" and the first single "MAKE TOTAL DESTROY" stand apart from the crowd, other songs towards the end of the record simply tend to melt together into one metal monster song. This album however is better than the first. There are more memorable songs. From the "Have a Blast" to "The Gods Must Be Crazy," the album is full of great songs.
The best two songs are the intro "Muramasa" and the true album highlight "Scarlett." The band called the later the poppiest thing the band has ever done and that's no understatement. The song is melodic and catchy, something about it is beautifully done. Front man Spencer Sotelo is part of what makes the band so great. He can go so effortlessly between clean and unclean vocals. He is like a male version of Mary Zimmer from the defunct metal band Luna Mortis. She, like Sotelo have such smooth transitions, it's like they don't even take a breath. The one thing that Sotelo and company could do to improve their sound is to just change things up on the musical arrangements and vocal arrangements. These changes could make this band all the greater than they already are.