Periphery III: Select Difficulty (2016): the djent rhythm-prog benchmark, decoded
Periphery's 2016 fourth studio record, the strings, gauges, tunings, and rhythm-prog rig spec behind Misha Mansoor, Mark Holcomb, Jake Bowen, and the canonical djent production sound. Self-produced. With citations.
Periphery · reviewed by the Change Your Strings editorial team ·
Periphery III: Select Difficulty (Periphery, 2016) is the band's fourth studio record and the canonical djent-production benchmark of the mid-2010s. Misha Mansoor (lead/rhythm), Mark Holcomb (rhythm/lead), and Jake Bowen (rhythm) tracked all three guitars on Ernie Ball Cobalt 7-string sets in extended-range tunings (Drop G#, Drop A, Drop B). Adam 'Nolly' Getgood tracked bass on Dingwall Combustion with Circle K custom strings and co-produced the record. Self-produced by the band. Reached #22 on the Billboard 200, the band's highest charting position to date.
At a glance
Role
Active
Affiliations
- Periphery, Adam 'Nolly' Getgood (producer)
The album
Periphery III: Select Difficulty, released July 22, 2016 on Sumerian / Century Media, is Periphery's fourth studio record and the canonical djent-production benchmark of the mid-2010s. 11 tracks across 62 minutes. Self-produced by the band with Adam 'Nolly' Getgood handling bass tracking and co-production. Recording happened across Periphery's home studios plus 4D Sounds in Bethesda, Maryland (Misha Mansoor's home studio).
Who played on it
Periphery's three-guitar lineup: Misha Mansoor (rhythm + lead), Mark Holcomb (rhythm + lead), Jake Bowen (rhythm). Adam 'Nolly' Getgood (bass + co-production), Matt Halpern (drums), Spencer Sotelo (vocals). The lineup that tracked Select Difficulty was the same as Juggernaut: Alpha + Juggernaut: Omega (2015) and Periphery II: This Time It's Personal (2012). Nolly departed the band in 2017 to focus on production work.
What they played
The three guitarists tracked Ernie Ball Cobalt 7-string sets across the album. Cobalt wrap material has higher magnetic permeability than nickel-plated steel, producing brighter, more articulate output through high-output passive humbuckers, which suits the dense high-gain djent rhythm tone. Specific gauge configurations vary across the players to match individual tuning preferences.
Tunings span Drop G#, Drop A, and Drop B across the seven-string instruments. The album represents Periphery's deepest-tuned material at the time of release. Mansoor primarily plays Jackson signature 7-strings; Holcomb on his PRS Mark Holcomb signature; Bowen on Jackson 7-strings.
Nolly tracked bass on his Dingwall Combustion multi-scale bass with Circle K custom strings (up to .160 on the bottom for the album's deepest-tuned material). The Dingwall multi-scale construction (different scale lengths per string, with the low strings longer than the high) is essential at extended-range tunings, fixed-scale 35-inch basses lose pitch definition on Drop G# and below.
Mansoor's production approach uses extensive plug-in modeling (NeuralDSP Archetype: Nolly is the canonical match for the album's lead-guitar tones, released in collaboration with Nolly the same year as the album cycle).
The cultural moment
Periphery III: Select Difficulty reached #22 on the Billboard 200, the band's highest charting position to date. The album solidified Periphery's status as the canonical djent band of the mid-2010s, and the production methodology (self-produced by the band's musicians with extensive plug-in modeling for guitar amp tones) became a template for the modern home-studio metal record. NeuralDSP Archetype: Nolly, released as a guitar-amp plug-in modeling Nolly's production tone, sold widely to guitarists trying to replicate the album's sound.
If you want this rig
Slinky Cobalt 7-string (.010-.062)
Why this one: Ernie Ball Cobalt 7-string in the standard .010-.062 configuration. Cobalt's higher magnetic permeability suits high-gain rhythm tone in djent contexts. Mansoor + Holcomb + Bowen all run Cobalt sets in extended-range configurations across the Periphery catalog.