u/Elliottislegit

I have seen this discourse stringently in different spaces that Palimpsest could be the 'worst' thing they have ever released or that it was the fullest departure from what people like about PTH but that entire mindset feels crazy to me, Palimpsest could actually be their best album(?), especially lyrically and vocally. I find it hard to see a way this album could be reduced away from the things that make it amazing.

Just intrigued to know what people think, positive or not.

It is certainly my favourite PTH album currently (Palimpsest, Fortress, Volition are a good top 3 for me)

I knew this band through such a highly focused lens that everything else was based off assumptions and fleeting comments.

I knew Bloodmeat, and maybe other songs from Fortress(?) My sister and her boyfriend "loved" PTH and couldn't believe I couldn't like them (I thought Rody was sort of over-the-top) - I disliked C'est La Vie for that exact reason but managed to enjoy Hair Trigger.

At this point years pass, and I have gotten into bands that could be considered more adult-adjacent, Mastodon, Haken. I revisit C'est La Vie and love it, love Rody on the song. I end up listening to Blindfolds Aside (the video cut) and genuinely have a 3rd-eye opening moment.

It was that song that made me realise maybe PTH was actually for me, I then listen and listen again to Kezia all the way through and realise this band is special (all within the year of 2026, 20 years after this albums release) and realise it's excellent, so is Fortress, for some reason I jump to Volition and realise the same.

The dam was broken at that point and I venture into their entire discography, Within was coming out at a great time in that regard - but Palimpsest is maybe where I realised just how good this band can be.

I have seen very mild discourse about this album and "late-era" Protest The Hero that take the band as negative, maybe this band is missing the piss and vinegar that fueled Kezia, I heard this from my sister and her partner, not an over hatred of the band or music, just no longer an affinity for what they were doing - but Rody has never been so laser-focused on writing about a concept (and concepts) as Palimpsest - his bleak attitude towards America is so inviting and so vivid, so agreeable also, I have found myself in a place of loving Kezia and Palimpsest most in their discography.

This whole long-winded post is meant to highlight how good Palimpsest is but more granularly how getting into a band that is as considered and complicated as PTH can take time (years and years, and then very suddenly in my case)

RED META EARTH plays Dream Theater : These Walls

Is genuinely an all timer Periphery song for me, such a beautiful marrying of sounds from their previous works with this albums own unique twist - handily my favourite from this record.