Review by JD on May 25, 2013.

Quebec Canada’s metal scene is a rather diverse one that seems to opt more on the side of Extreme than all of them. Nasty Grind, blood caked Death and Melodic Death and even the schizophrenic Metalcore is the bulk of the music – yet lately there is more and more Black Metal coming out of our French countrymen, with a few band that have been there for alike leading the satanic charge.

Scum Sentinel has been around for a while (1999-2008 as Elfire, then changed to the name now) and plays what can be called very basic and brutal Black Metal in the vein of Mayhem to even older Darkthrone as well. There is frantic drumming, blast beats and heavily distorted tremolo picking are all there, but there is not much in the way of originality or even a small hint that they tried to do that in the first place. For all of the nasty riffage and blasting drums, it seems all so rehashed and hashed over again.

Don’t get me wrong here – my problem here is Scum Sentinel does nothing original to get them to stand out, ending up sounding like they simply have used most of the riffs from Darkthrone catalogue, and changing around shit to make it sound different. I like some of the songs, but really did not get into it, to the point that I just did only three listens to it, and went on. I like originality, if I want to hear cover bands, I will buy tribute albums.

Sadly, my fellow Canadians here have not put their best foot forward, but just imitated others and having very bad production just added to the marked disappointment I have. I hope they find their own way soon, because as it stands now – they seem to be just a cover band that adds their own words into the mix. BM fans everywhere… this is not one for you. Hate being harsh, but this was what it was.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 4
Atmosphere: 2
Production: 1
Originality: 0
Overall: 1

Rating: 1.6 out of 10

Review by Adam M on January 17, 2018.

This is my third Periphery review for the site, but it is the earliest album in the band’s discography that I’ve covered so far. The band has shifted styles a little from the self-titled and added more clean singing. It still seems the band is one step from the clean direction they’ve gone in now, but the extended use of clean singing is certainly welcome after the self-titled release. The band would go on to become one of the more interesting acts in the djent genre, but this is really a nice warm-up to the later releases.

There are the harsh parts, but the use of cleans is very welcome and adds another dimension to the band’s sound. They would further progress and add in more interesting djent rhythms on future albums, but this is the blueprint for the band. I’m not as sold on the music here as I am on later releases, but it is very intelligent and consistent progressive metal. The greater focus on the melodic tendencies of the band means they can create nicer harmonies and add a greater dichotomy between clean and harsh portions quite readily. This adds a thoughtfulness to the music as well as a nice contrast. As stated, Periphery would further expand upon these aspects in the future, but it’s nice to know where everything got started. This is the most interesting of the albums I’ve reviewed recently and it gathers momentum in the solid production values the band has achieved at this point.

The sound of the band is certainly more pleasing on this album and needs to be commended. It’s just that this style has a little less impact now that I’ve already heard the new albums in their entirety first. All of Periphery's work needs to be listened to though and Periphery II:  This Time It's Personal is no exception.

Rating: 7.8 out of 10

Review by JD on May 25, 2013.

Quebec Canada’s metal scene is a rather diverse one that seems to opt more on the side of Extreme than all of them. Nasty Grind, blood caked Death and Melodic Death and even the schizophrenic Metalcore is the bulk of the music – yet lately there is more and more Black Metal coming out of our French countrymen, with a few band that have been there for alike leading the satanic charge.

Scum Sentinel has been around for a while (1999-2008 as Elfire, then changed to the name now) and plays what can be called very basic and brutal Black Metal in the vein of Mayhem to even older Darkthrone as well. There is frantic drumming, blast beats and heavily distorted tremolo picking are all there, but there is not much in the way of originality or even a small hint that they tried to do that in the first place. For all of the nasty riffage and blasting drums, it seems all so rehashed and hashed over again.

Don’t get me wrong here – my problem here is Scum Sentinel does nothing original to get them to stand out, ending up sounding like they simply have used most of the riffs from Darkthrone catalogue, and changing around shit to make it sound different. I like some of the songs, but really did not get into it, to the point that I just did only three listens to it, and went on. I like originality, if I want to hear cover bands, I will buy tribute albums.

Sadly, my fellow Canadians here have not put their best foot forward, but just imitated others and having very bad production just added to the marked disappointment I have. I hope they find their own way soon, because as it stands now – they seem to be just a cover band that adds their own words into the mix. BM fans everywhere… this is not one for you. Hate being harsh, but this was what it was.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 4
Atmosphere: 2
Production: 1
Originality: 0
Overall: 1

Rating: 1.6 out of 10

Review by JD on May 25, 2013.

Quebec Canada’s metal scene is a rather diverse one that seems to opt more on the side of Extreme than all of them. Nasty Grind, blood caked Death and Melodic Death and even the schizophrenic Metalcore is the bulk of the music – yet lately there is more and more Black Metal coming out of our French countrymen, with a few band that have been there for alike leading the satanic charge.

Scum Sentinel has been around for a while (1999-2008 as Elfire, then changed to the name now) and plays what can be called very basic and brutal Black Metal in the vein of Mayhem to even older Darkthrone as well. There is frantic drumming, blast beats and heavily distorted tremolo picking are all there, but there is not much in the way of originality or even a small hint that they tried to do that in the first place. For all of the nasty riffage and blasting drums, it seems all so rehashed and hashed over again.

Don’t get me wrong here – my problem here is Scum Sentinel does nothing original to get them to stand out, ending up sounding like they simply have used most of the riffs from Darkthrone catalogue, and changing around shit to make it sound different. I like some of the songs, but really did not get into it, to the point that I just did only three listens to it, and went on. I like originality, if I want to hear cover bands, I will buy tribute albums.

Sadly, my fellow Canadians here have not put their best foot forward, but just imitated others and having very bad production just added to the marked disappointment I have. I hope they find their own way soon, because as it stands now – they seem to be just a cover band that adds their own words into the mix. BM fans everywhere… this is not one for you. Hate being harsh, but this was what it was.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 4
Atmosphere: 2
Production: 1
Originality: 0
Overall: 1

Rating: 1.6 out of 10