Parkway and me

Parkway Drive have been a big influence on my life since i first heard them in 2006 through a good friend of mine. He gave me their album Killing With a Smile saying "you've gotta listen to this man, it's fucking brutal" so began my foray into the band that made me what I am today.

Right from the start, I couldn't stop listening to the album, the guitar was so heavy, so amazingly skilled I fell in love immediately. The drums took a while to sink in because they aren't my favorite instrument but the technical brutality that Ben Gordon could thrash out with those drum sticks. Then we get to their crowning glory, their cherry on the top, their piece de resistance. Winston McCall. The man is able to deal out a, savage, almost animalistic roar from his mouth throughout every track. He switches effortlessly between low and high screams, constantly leaving the listener amazed at his vocal range. There of course, would be no depth to anything they did with their guitars, especially their breakdowns, without Jia O'connor their bassist. He completes the Metalcore quintet.

Then we move into the album, it starts with an absolute belter by way of Gimmie a D. The song blasts into pure hate for everything and anything, it's like Winston had been through a bad break up when they were writing it. Every track is just a no holds barred, white knuckle smash in the face.

Moving swiftly onto their second album Horizons. It was a big change from their first album, they had a lyric-less intro track and their songs had more of a conventional structure, more so than their previous album. The final track, with the same name as the album, is a standout from them, being over 5 minutes it's longer than most other tracks by them. The album is however, unremarkable with small smatterings of brilliance.

Finally their most recent, and brilliant offering to the metal world. Deep Blue. Right from the off you know, this is gonna be a good time. The first track Unrest has given them a great quote in the form of "what the fuck, have, I become" Sleepwalker is a brutal awakening pushing you further into this orgy of sound and power. Deliver me has one of their classic and neck destroying breakdowns, which hits you like a kick to the gut. Right the way through to the insanely heavy minute and a half long finisher Set To Destroy, this album doesn't slow down, doesn't compromise and isn't just the same sound from this titan of the metalcore world. Parkway Drive haven't just done the same thing over and over, they evolved, their Ep was incredible, unbelievably harsh and pure sounding, now they've moved into an extremely downtuned and heavy style.

All in all I've never stopped enjoying Parkway, they are a band I just don't skip when a track comes on. Beautifully brutal, and technically sublime, I will never stop loving what these Australian monsters do.