Periphery Drummer Matt Halpern to Sit Out Australian Tour Following Birth of Second Child

Washington D.C.-based prog-metal djent band (who insists that djent is not a genre) Periphery will be a man down for their Australian tour, but thankfully it’s for a very good reason. The band’s drummer, Matt Halpern, is taking some time off after the birth of his second child, meaning that he’s going to be…wait for it…relegated to the periphery! Thanks, I’ll be here all week, don’t order the veal.

Halpern announced his hiatus on Instagram in a video with the following caption:

“Hey everyone! I have good news and bad news… The good news is we recently welcomed my second child into the family and everyone is doing great! Bad news is, I’m sad to say that with my current family duties at home, I won’t be joining Periphery in Australia for our November tour. I’m really going to miss not being able to be there on this run, but thankfully the band will be in very capable hands (and feet!) with the great David Parkes [of I Built the Sky] filling in for me on the drums. I’ll be on dad duty throughout the end of the year, but I’m stoked to get back out on tour for Periphery’s run supporting Spiritbox in early 2025, and of course I’ll also be back for everything else beyond that as well. Thanks to all of you awesome fans in Australia for understanding, and I hope to be back down your way as soon as possible. Cheers!”

With all the musicians I have to report on here who need to drop off tours for injuries, scandals, or catastrophic home damage from a hurricane, it’s refreshing to report on someone sitting out a tour because they got good news. Congratulations to Halpern and his family!