Sure, I was drinking the haterade like most of you for awhile. Their early material is fairly entry-level, and they look goofy as hell and all the little scene kids adore them, so automatically we ‘real metalheads’ have to despise them, right? It’s an understandable knee-jerk reaction, and I pretty much wrote them off after Suicide Season - although I didn’t particularly hate it – but when one of my best friends told me to check out Heaven/Hell, and literally would not stop raving about it, I gave it an open minded spin and was totally floored.
It really is a great album, and over a year later I only appreciate it more with each listen. Solid all the way through and often incredible, unbelievable production, and some of the best guitar tones I’ve ever heard on any album, in any genre. If you passed this album up, you should really give it another go.
Heavy Blog reader Chelsea Seal attended the November UK headlining tour for Austrailian metalcore act Parkway Drive. She sent us a review of the show, below, and we were happy to share it. Thanks Chelsea!
After waiting through 6 bands before the main headliner, the crowd appeared to be exhausted and have nothing left to give. But before they come onto the stage, the entire crowd is chanting their name, everyone clearly eager to see their favourite band.
As the intro track “Samsara” started to play, the crowd goes insane and the shouts and screams once again seem to be all they have left. “Samsara”’s sound over the P.A is distinctly the haunting sound that Parkway Drive shows through most if not all of their songs. But when Parkway Drive hit the stage, the entire crowd is woken up and filled with a sudden burst of energy, everyone is jumping and screaming. As the band kick into “Unrest” they have an air of confidence, knowing that the Manchester crowd are going to give as much as they get.
So I just stumbled upon this article written by Every Time I Die frontman Keith Buckley. It’s basically a big rant about the sad state of our sub-culture, where people with no talent can get together and call themselves a ‘band’, get a bunch of 14 year-old scene kids to be their fan base, get on warped tour and get rich because of their ‘music’. He even calls out a few bands by name, which I found enjoyable. I’m not really even a fan of Every Time I Die, but this is a great article and Keith makes some very good points. Check it out, unless you’re in love with Attack Attack! or some other similiar ‘band’.
1. Samsara
2. Unrest
3. Sleepwalker
4. Wreckage
5. Deadweight
6. Alone
7. Pressures
8. Deliver Me
9. Karma
10. Home Is For The Heartless
11. Hollow
12. Leviathan I
13. Set To Destroy
As a lot of us know, it’s been a long time coming for Australian metalcore juggernaut, Parkway Drive. They’ve managed to release two studio albums (not including Deep Blue), an EP, two split albums, and a DVD in a scene where bands are lucky to get a second studio album out in their lifetime. With their latest release, Deep Blue, I’m sure they hope to continue to their streak of success.
Rather than looking at each track individually, Deep Blue BEGS to be taken in all together. The songs by themselves aren’t exactly incredible but the album listened all the way through is a quite engaging experience. Opening with the atmospheric intro, “Samsara”, the mood first sets in. While the album continues, it never once loses it’s pacing, vibe, or immersive value and considering its ferocious tempo changes, this is quite a feat. Deep Blue, when listened all the way through, is a beautiful thing.
Now if you’re looking for something innovative or unique, you may not find much here. Alone, each song sounds like pretty generic metalcore, but like I said, the album doesn’t want to be seen in individual tracks. What’s remarkable about it however is how immersive it gets you once you give it a chance. If you’re an open minded listener with a good 40-50 minutes to kill, I absolutely recommend giving Deep Blue a solid chance.
ARRRGH, it be rough waters in the metalcore scene mateys! Ya got hundreds upon hundreds of blokes chasing the same booty and so it’s no place for a scallywag in such a turbulent living!
Obnoxious pirate-speak aside, I was recently given the opportunity to talk to Luke Kilpatrick of Parkway Drive and was able to ask him questions. Being in one of the most successful bands in a scene plagued by mediocrity and genericism, I was interested to hear what he had to say.
To get things started, please introduce yourself.
Hi, I’m Luke, or Pig as my friends like to call me.
What was the last thing you ate? Was it any good? I had some Cocoa Puffs a few minutes ago. They were alright.
Cocoa Puffs are shit. It’s all about Cocoa Pops, and they only seem to be good in Australia, they taste weird everywhere else. Last thing I ate was a chicken burrito at Chipotle. It was unbelievable!
As we know the new record, Deep Blue is set to be released June 25th in Australia, June 28th in Europe, and June 29th in the US. From listening to Deep Blue as well as Horizons, you all (as a band) have succeeded very well in creating a very engaging, almost ambient vibe. How was the writing process similar or different to “Horizons” or other past albums and is creating these vibes a conscious effort or something that comes naturally?
A bit of both I think. We wrote the songs fundamentally the same as in the past but we definitely brought in some new ideas and writing techniques. Winston actually tried to write the CD lyrically as a concept album. Whether kids get it, or care will be another story. It was good for us to do it like this, created a bit of a challenge and a new way of thinking. Winston [McCall - vocals] would have certain ‘feels’ he would like from a song and we would get to write the song to try and suit. Usually it’s the opposite… Write the music, add the lyrics. Maybe this created some ambiance?
I’m also aware of some studio updates from the recording of Deep Blue, would you care to speak about how the recording process was for Deep Blue in comparison to your older albums?
Almost the exact opposite. The focus was on playing as a band, getting the feel for the song and tracking it as we played it. Rather than concentrating on getting every hit on the drums, every note on the guitars and every word unrealistically perfect Joe preferred to have us play the songs as we do. It really worked for us and was a fun and challenging time really. It was something different in the studio and we loved our time in there.
Now, there has been a lot of talk going on about your new music video for the song “Sleepwalker”, I know I speak for many when I say it’s quite interesting as well as out of the ordinary. Is there a message being expressed? How does it correlate with the song and/or album? Any sort of clarification is helpful, this video has me stumped!
Yeah it seems a little confusing. It ties in with the theme of the album. The guy basically realizes the world is fucked and the city exploding represents that. Our friend is this crazy graphics dude so I guess that’s why it looks cool. I like the fact that it’s different. It’s not a band in a shed or on a rooftop with complementing semi-hot girl walking or running through the street. Those are so fucking boring and done to death.
Australian metalcore heroes Parkway Drive are releasing a new album, Deep Blue, on June 29th via Epitaph Records. However, according to reader Tom, it has leaked and it is available online.
Here’s the tracklist:
1. Samsara
2. Unrest
3. Sleepwalker
4. Wreckage
5. Deadweight
6. Alone
7. Pressures
8. Deliver Me
9. Karma
10. Home Is For The Heartless
11. Hollow
12. Leviathan I
13. Set To Destroy
If you want a legal taste of the new album, watch their new video for “Sleepwalker” after the jump.
Throwing together bits and pieces of metalcore, thrash, and melodic death metal, Bay Area metal quartet Ashkira bring a rock solid offering in the way of their debut album, The Honor Of Defeat.
Ashkira actually means “loud strength” (in what language though, I couldn’t tell you). Their sound is reminiscent of Darkest Hour, Lamb of God, and Machine Head, all of which are influences. The album is actually fairly straightforward in it’s intentions. Ashkira want to showcase their blend of old school thrash brutality with the darker melodic sensibilities of melodic death metal and metalcore, and they do this fairly well.
The riffs and guitar leads provided by guitarists Thomas Armitage and Nick Bagley are pretty catchy. When combined with Peter Aregger’s bursts of double bass blasts and bassist/vocalist David Minhondo’s throaty screams, there’s a an ongoing mood of struggle, as depicted in the album’s artwork and foreshadowed in the album’s title. The mood is portrayed very well in the song “Life Like”, particularly in the chorus.
The rest of the tracks on the album carry a similar feel and pace, in varying dynamics in which this emotion is displayed. There are breakdowns, but they are most certainly not overdone and only help to build this small dynamic. Minhondo’s vocals do take a break from the screams every once in a while to do a more clean, hardcore type of yelling, as in the track “Beyond the Pale,” and this break is welcome when things are getting to be a bit too much.
The production on the album could be a bit better, particularly in the mixing. I’d love it if the vocals were higher up in the mix on some tracks. Ashkira could also use more audible bass presence. I just feel like more crunch could make their sound more powerful. My main drag with The Honor Of Defeat, however, is that there isn’t enough variance in the songs to justify the length of the record. The riffs are great, there just aren’t enough of them to really optimize the use of a 6+ minute song. In this regard, the album feels a bit lengthy and repetitive. As with anything though, on repeated listens these imperfections become less noticeable.
Overall, The Honor Of Defeat is a start off on the right foot for Ashkira. The album is aggressive, fast, and catchy, but seems to be held back by it’s own weight. This is still very much an enjoyable album, however, and will find itself right at home with fans of contemporary metalcore bands like Lamb of God, Parkway Drive, and Darkest Hour. I am eager to see what these guys can come up with next.
Parkway Drive
