Band : Parkway Drive
Album title : Deep Blue
Label : Burning Heart
Distributor : Epitaph – PIAS
Release date : 29/06/2010
Release : CD

Australia’s Parkway Drive (they originate from the town of Byron Bay in the New South Wales province) are a force to be reckoned with, as you could find the Metalcore quintet on European stages quite regularly in the last couple of years!

Formed in 2002 in the original line-up of singer Winston McCall, guitarists Luke Kilpatrick and Jeff Ling, bassist Brett Versteeg (soon replaced by Shaun Cash, whom himself was supplanted by Jia O’Connor in 2006), and d rummer Ben Gordon, the quintet released their debut in the form of a split EP with Adelaide Metalcore act I Killed The Prom Queen in 2003. Prior to making an appearance on the Byron Bay Hardcore compilation What We’ve Built, the guys also released their own EP Don’t Close Your Eyes. Following that release the band quickly gained a strong following throughout the Australian continent, thanks to playing support slots for such international acts as Alexisonfiire, As I Lay Dying, Bleeding Through, Chimaira, Hatebreed, In Flames, and performances at such high-level events as 2005’s Metal For The Brain and Australian Hardcore. In May 2005 the band travelled to the USA to record their debut full-length Killing With A Smile (released in Australia in  August 2005) with reputed producer Adam Dutkiewitz (guitarist for Killswitch Engage; his production credits already included Unearth and Underoath, plus numerous smaller bands at that time). The album since then sold over 30,000 copies in Australia. Evidently, the quintet backed the album up with a heavy touring schedule, quite a few of which were headlining shows). The increased success could not help getting noticed to the world outside Australia, and in July 2006 the band signed to Epitaph Records, who released the band’s debut album in the US the month after. With Cash leaving in May for personal reasons (backed up by the band), long-time “merch guy” Jia O’Connor made his debut with the band as a replacement during the rest of the year’s dates (tour in the UK and Europe, and later a tour in the US) before becoming a permanent member, ending the year with several festival appearancces on “home” soil.

In Early 2007 the band was occupied recording their sophomore album Horizons (released in October that same year), and they spent the summer touring the US on the Vans Warped tour. Generally acclaimed by the critics, Horizon not only debuted at #6 on the ARIA charts (Australia) but also made multi-platinum status in Europe. After the release the guys again toured the US, Australia and Europe with such bands as Killswitch Engage, Bury Your Dead, Darkest Hour, and others. In 2008 the band toured Australia twice. Well, in Feb/ March they did the Surf Rats Tour (with Byron Bay bands/ friends 50 Lions – fronted by McCall’s younger brother Oscar – and Word Up!) which passed through towns on the East Coast not usually listed on the standard touring circuit, hitting big surf spots along the way. In December the band headlined the national Sweatfest Tour, supported by A Day To Remember, Suicide Silence, The Acacia Strain, and Confession. During that tour the band filmed the footage (including a complete show) for their May 2009 released DVD Parkway Drive: The DVD. Prior to heading out to a headliner tour of the US (with Stick To Your Guns and Mychildren Mybride as supports), PD hit Japan for a short tour with Shai Hulud and Crystal Palace supporting. In support of the DVD’s release the band again hit the Australian club circuit, hauling not only August Burns Red and Architects along as supports, but also giving several local bands a chance to shine on certain legs of the tour. (Above info taken/ rewritten from the band’s page at Wikipedia)

To record their new album, PD this time relied on producer Joe Baressi (Queens Of The Stone Age, Bad Religion, Tool). Recorded in only just over 3 weeks between March 23 and April 17, the album’s material was announced as being the band’s heaviest and rawest yet A statement which I gladly concur with, and I’ve been thinking perhaps the fact that lyrically the album displays the concept of a guy whom “wakes up’ some day to find all the things he used to believe in was nothing else but an intricate web of lies…has something to do with the more ferocious side of the music? A bit less “Metal” and a bit more “Core”, so to speak, even though there’s a very nice level of sophistication and attention to the degree of melodies in the tracks as well, with the two guitarists constantly complementing each other and the lead guitarist putting in interesting lead passages all the time. Luckily, the material ain’t brutal throughout, containing plenty of calmer bits and passages…and in a way that even amplifies the rawness of the heavier parts! “Home Is For The Heartless” (which also sees Epitaph owner Brett Gurewitz adding vocals – another guest participation comes from Marshall Lichtenwald from The Warriors, on the track “Hollow Me”) is somewhat different in its vocal approach, thanks to clean backing vocals and sing-along chorus “Woh-ho wo-ho”s! But overall PD’s lead singer as well as whomever gives him the occasional backings, displays a very raw and raspy screamed vocal style. At myspace.com/parkwaydrive, you’ll only find two of the more ferocious songs on this album posted (alongside 6 tracks off the previous albums, and a couple of videos down-page), but they’re certainly a perfect reflection of the overall atmosphere on the disc. Definitely an album you wanna check out if you’re into the more brutal but sophisticated Metal/ Hardcore style!

Of course the album was first released in Australia (25 June through Resist Records) and just to give you an idea of just how popular these guys are, I’ll let you know that it was released simultaneously through the Australian iTunes Store. Within 4 days, the amount of downloads secured the album a N°2 spot in the Australian iTunes Album Charts, beaten only by white rapper Eminem’s latest release Recovery. If you’re one to prefer checking out bands in live conditions, you’ll be happy to find out that, following their trip with the Vans Warped tour this summer, the band will be hitting a couple of European festivals (Germany’s Summer Breeze and Belgium’s Pukkelpop) this late August (there’s also a couple of extra German dates), before goin’ back  to Australia to do another tour there! If you can’t make the festivals (tickets for Pukkelpop were sold out some time ago), the guys will be back in Europe on the Never Say Die Tour, which starts hitting stages throughout Europe starting October 29 (dates closest to us are 06/11 at Aarschot’s Stadsfeestzaal, and the day after at Tilburg, Holland’s 013 venue).

98/100

Tony.