[youtube]http://youtu.be/8Av0kfz8R50[/youtube]

Well that came out of nowhere! We knew that Periphery were working on new material, and now it’s all coming to fruition. The band’s more experimental third offering, Clear, will be released on January 28th on Sumerian, but you can hear snippets of the whole thing above. And what’s even better is that they’re not even considering it a proper album release, as they’re still at work on Periphery III. Here’s what the band’s Jake Bowen had to say about it:

“Clear is an experiment to explore all of the different writing styles in the band. It’s rare when you have a band where every member is capable of writing and producing music. With each member controlling their own track, this recording enabled us to go down any path we chose in terms of style and sound.

“Every track also contains a melodic theme established in Clear’s intro track “Overture” this common thread links all of the songs together, even though they all sound wildly different. Clear shouldn’t be confused with our new 3rd full-length album that we’re currently working on, nor should it be considered an EP as it rides somewhere in-between clocking in at 30 minutes. Enjoy!”

Are we the only ones that are surprised by this? They’d made references to possibly coming out with something before the next full length a few months back, but to have a fully formed EP is definitely exciting