Formed in 2003, Parkway Drive are from Byron Bay, New South Wales. From Sydney it’s a 8.5 hour drive North and close to the NSW and Queensland border. It’s a great place to visit. Thor himself Chris Hemsworth has set up residence there.
I didn’t get into em as the screaming was too much on the earlier releases but then they released “Reverence” in May 2018. It went to Number 1 on the ARIA Charts, and it was the melodic heavy metal sound that hooked me in. You can hear influences from Maiden, Judas, Metallica, Megadeth, In Flames and Sabbath.
The band is made up of Winston McCall on lead vocals, Jeff Ling on lead guitar, Luke “Pig” Kilpatrick on rhythm guitar, Jia “Pie” O’Connor on bass and Ben “Gaz” Gordon on drums.
“Wishing Wells” kicks off the album, in which McCall speaks the intro over a dark acoustic guitar riff as it builds into a massive melodic death metal piece.
I spoke a vow today and asked if God would come and play
I’ve dug a shallow hole for him to sleep
But I swear he just won’t answer me
I call on out is he afraid, I’ll bury him down with the ones he keeps
And if the devil is listening, I’ll come for him as well
If I suspect he had a hand to play
And if I see his face in town, there’s room for two down underground
Nothing’s gonna stop me ’til I’m done
Until I’m done!
Until I’m done!
Until I’m done!
Until I’m done!
‘Cause tonight I’m killing gods!
Killing gods!
There has been death within the band members circle and they are pissed. Pissed at everyone.
“Prey” has an intro riff that will hook you in. It’s the best riff that In Flames didn’t write. And at 42 plus million streams, its definitely a star for em on Spotify. Hell, their numbers on Spotify make all of the people whinging about Spotify sound lame.
Apart from “Prey”, “The Void” from the same album is at 33.3 million streams, “Vice Grip” is at 48.4 million streams, “Wild Eyes” is at 36.9 million streams and “Carrion” is at 34.8 million streams.
In comparison, I’ve been listening to a lot of Coheed and Cambria lately as I’ve been reviewing their albums and their streams for their Top 5 are “Welcome Home” at 76.1 million streams, “A Favour House Atlantic” at 25.8 million streams, “The Suffering” at 22.3 million streams, “Wake Up” at 12.4 million streams and “Blood Red Summer” at 10.1 million streams.
“Absolute Power” crushes with its intro riff, reminding me of Rage Against The Machine.
The truth drops like a bomb
What do we know as truth. Most people are afraid to speak up, for fear of standing out, for fear of being ridiculed, they just want to get along.
The past you know has been written by the victor
So I ask you now, who is it writing your future
The butcher, the liar, the thief or the killer
Your freedom died quiet in the halls of power
When you read and learn history you read a version of events from a certain point of view. Even our parents are guilty of changing the past to suit their point of views.
As the outro chorus sings, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely”.
“Cemetery Bloom” has a choir that gives me chills.
“The Void” is a hard rock song. There is a guitar hero moment in the song, but the overall feel of this song reminds me of “In Flames” at their melodic best.
“I Hope You Rot” has melodic leads and symphonic choirs.
“Shadow Boxing” has a phased/chorus guitar riff to kick off the song and McCall showcases his clean tone vocals. And the violin section is haunting.
All my life I’ve been told the same old
Don’t step out, don’t test the mould
It’s the same message from the 80s.
“Chronos” has guitar playing which is metal up your arse. The last two minutes are a must listen. So melodic and powerful.
The title deals with Chronos, the keeper of time and how everything within time returns to him.
“The Colour of Leaving” is the closer. It’s melancholic.
I saw death’s face today
As he led my friend away
So I’ll ask who I gotta pay
To bring him back
Bring him back to me
Bring him back to me
To release something like “Reverence” six albums deep, is to be commended. And they’ve cemented themselves as one of Australia’s great exports.
Check em out.
destroyerofharmony 
I didn’t realize they were from your neck of the woods and I didn’t realize they had stopped the screaming. I might have to check out the later albums. It is also weird we drive on a Parkway and park on a Driveway, but that is another discussion.
Yeah, those lyrics on “Wishing Well” mean business. I like the repetition of the “I’m not done” bit. Personally, I’ve got lot’s of meaningful projects undone. I like that self-authorising point of view. Its cool how the singer considers the presence of a God and then Satan and then takes the power forward from there.
I liked the Void song for its catchy groove. I saw how infectious a Wacken crowd physically engaged with it on an older video. On young man, in a wheel chair, was raised above heads and carried to the stage pit’s secure zone. He was digging it. It’s pretty impressive to see so many folks swept in the Parkway Drive’s music. There a new band for me. – I’ll have to dig out the naming of the band. I noticed a guitar player was in a wheelchair himself and wonder if that story’s experience fits into their art.
I don’t know of other wheelchair bound metal type musician other than Possessed’s singer Jeff Becerra and Brian McAlpin one of the guitarists from Psychotic Waltz. Just seeing videos and hearing their art is uplifting to me, too.
Their bass player had an injury and had to play in a chair for some Euro gigs circa 2019.
In those live videos, the band brings it man.
And I agree it’s pretty cool the singer is taking down god and satan,