Periphery just dropped the following bomb via Facebook:

Sad to hear Periphery bassist Tim Murphy has left the band issuing the following statement: “I’m sorry to announce that as of today I will no longer be playing bass for Periphery. I have had so many unforgettable experiences and have met so many wonderful people while playing with the band and just want to say thank you to all the fans for making that possible. I am leaving to pursue something new. If you are interested following up with me, feel free to add my personal page at facebook.com/tom.h.murphy.
-Tom”

Murphy is a great bassist and a great performer, and speaking as a Periphery fan, I’ll miss the guy being in the band. That being said, it’s not exactly a secret that Misha Mansoor is the driving force behind Periphery, so it’s hard for me to imagine that this will hurt Periphery too much in the long run.

Still, it is a little troubling that Murphy is leaving less than five months after guitarist Alex Bois also split from the group. Hopefully the loss of two members in such a short time span does not forebode any rough times for the band.

-AR

Thanks: Rod

I gotta be honest: I cannot for the life of me keep track of who the crap was in Periphery or Haunted Shores when. Misha Mansoor was definitely involved with Haunted Shores at some point, but I assume that involvement ceased before former Periphery vocalist Chris Baretto joined… although I don’t think that Baretto a part of that band now, though I could be wrong… and then I guess at some point current Periphery vocalist  Spencer Sotelo also did a track with Haunted Shores… and we just got a press release telling us that HS guitarist Mark Holcomb (above, with Mansoor) has joined Periphery full-time after filling in with them on their last few tours after other other guitarist Alex Bois parted ways with the band back in July, and… maybe now Bois can join Haunted Shores? And I just went cross-eyed typing all that shit. Seriously, it’s easier keeping up with who is what version of L.A. Guns than it is with who was in what version of each of these bands at what time.

I’m sure someone will try to explain it to me in the comments section, but don’t bother. The important thing is, like I said, Holcomb is the new permanent guitarist in Periphery. Or, uh, that is, he will be, following the band’s upcoming European tour with Dream Theater, because a dude named Nolly from Red Seas Fire was already slated to be on that tour. But after that! Holcomb all the way!

In all seriousness, I saw Holcomb play with the band just a few weeks ago, and he was great. So if any Periphery fans were worried about who Bois’ replacement was gonna be, they can now breathe a sigh of relief.

-AR

Why it was just three months ago that we interviewed Periphery guitarist Alex Bois (along with bassist Tom Murphy) when his band played NYC with Scale the Summit, and things seemed just dandy. But apparently that was not the case or events have taken a sudden turn: Bois and the band have parted ways, although it’s not clear which party (if not both) was responsible for the split. From Periphery’s MySpace page:

Hey Guys!

We have some sad news to share. Alex Bois and Periphery have decided to part ways. This is truly a sad day for Periphery, because Alex has been with us since the beginning, and he is like a brother to us. We’re going to do everything we can to make the most out of this unfortunate situation, and soldier on like we always have in the past when faced with setbacks.

In regards to all of our upcoming shows and tours, worry not! We will have special guest artists filling in for Alex, so our touring plans will not be changing whatsoever.

Throughout all of this, we really appreciate your support and understanding.

See you soon

- Periphery

Seems like one of those touchy situations where the privacy of the band is best respected, but what do we know, maybe they just decided it wasn’t working any more. Naturally we’ll fill you in if we hear anything else.

-VN

Thanks: ton0290 and Dan

Vince and Axl double-teamed Periphery guitarist Alex Bois and bassist Tom Murphy prior to their show with Scale the Summit and Fair to Midland in New York City on April 6th. A special guest interviewer joined in at the end for some added lulz. The Periphery boys told us about the success of their current tour (this was before they mysteriously dropped off the final week), their new Icarus EP, the progress of the next full album, and user feedback about MetalSucks (thanks guys!). Our fun-time chat after the break.

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It’s sad that gear getting stolen is a not-uncommon occurrence in the metal world — but the fact that it seems to happen so frequently never makes me any less pissed-off about it. And now it’s happened to a very direct member of the MetalSucks family, so… you might imagine that we’re fuming, and you’d be right.

A post from Periphery’s official Facebook page:

Since it seems that at least two of these guitars are rare/one-of-a-kind, hopefully they’ll be recovered quickly, as was the case with Katatonia’s stolen gear last month. And then hopefully someone will make the thief eat his own nuts.

While we wait for a happy resolution to this woeful tale, read Periphery guitarist Misha “Bulb” Mansoor’s “MetalSucks.net/Gear_Geek” column and learn why the idiot who took this guitar will never do as much good with it as Periphery would.

And don’t forget that Periphery will part of the MetalSucks sponsored Legacy Tour along with Darkest Hour (playing a “best of” set from their fifteen year career), Veil of Maya, and Revocation. Get dates here.

-AR

Another day at Harpo’s Theatre in Detroit: white metal bands, black neighborhood, beefed-up security, and glaring eyes – nothing says “Welcome to Michigan” like playing here. Although forward-thinking on the racial front is lackluster at best, we still have a very prominent and devoted metal crowd ready to use the few dollars they have left to buy a ticket and get shit-faced.

It is here, during the MetalSucks co-sponsored Thrash & Burn tour, that I recently had the opportunity to interview a band that seemingly everyone at MS has been jizzing their pants over: Periphery.These guys just got signed with Sumerian, and THANK GOD. They can absolutely shred, and even if you’re not too keen on clean vocals, I think you need to get the stick out of your ass and check these guys out ASAP.

Their soon-to-be “mass appeal” is more then I would normally advocate. Nonetheless, just because they will most likely be your younger sister or brother’s favorite new band (if your sister of brother is totally bad-ass), they may also be yours as well. There is no way you can deny their talent. Everything about this band is correct. Everything is in motion. They are insoluble. They are the lime in your tequila. They just… work.

The band’s founder, Misha Mansoor, is not only super-talented, but also gives his music away. For free, as Kip Wingerschmidt recently informed us. And not just one or two songs, either – over one-hundred tracks, in studio-quality audio. If that doesn’t convince you to check them out, then you need to check yourself off. Get it?

Either way, Misha and go-guitarist Alex Bois were so very gracious to sit down with me in their conversion van and tell me all about how they got to where they are now, and where they are going to go. I would assume they might dominate most of the Sound Scan posts here at MS in 2010. But hey, to be fair, so will Miley Cyrus. So don’t listen to me, I just have a vagina and I am really, really cool and super smart.

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