Band: Parkway Drive
Release: Atlas (Album)
Release Date: 29/10/12
Australian metallers Parkway Drive have spent a reasonable amount of their career dealing with changeable attitudes directed towards metalcore. Although their brief back catalogue often verges heavily towards the uncompromising nature of forthright metal, the bands that the quintet associate with – finding themselves on tour with The Word Alive and Emmure at the time of the album release – and the ever-present breakdowns ensure a more blinkered view by the wider music community. Fortunately ‘Atlas’ encases sufficient power to both set Parkway Drive up in their own right, and to rejuvenate positive perceptions on the notorious genre.
Although ‘Atlas’ does not stray too far from the path laid out by previous Parkway Drive records, the overall delivery is entirely more sophisticated and intricate than ‘Deep Blue’ or ‘Horizons’. The evolution is subtle yet distinctive in both the quality of the material as a whole, but also the careful consideration of song structure and overall album construction. The band are aware of the ebb and flow of a coherent record, allowing them to pull back where necessary without impacting on the sheer magnitude of the dominion – the string instruments or the shift to spoken word in the title track sit comfortably next to the thrash styling of ‘Snake Oil and Holy Water’. Although of a different vein, the careful fabric of the record is reminiscent of similar switches on Bring Me The Horizon’s opus ‘There Is A Hell…’
The record builds upon the epic sounds generated on previous records without backsliding into banality. The cautious balance guards the sound from appearing contrived, instead generating a distinctive power. Through this Parkway Drive set themselves further ahead of the metalcore counterparts waiting in the wings. Instead these sophisticated theatrics propel the record further into experimental metal, joining the revered ranks of newer Machine Head material or even the likes of Lamb Of God.
‘Atlas’ sees Parkway Drive accept the challenge of developing their genre into something altogether more refined. Words such as ‘mature’ or ‘cultured’ serve to diminish the success of previous records, yet the notions of evolving and developing certainly come into play. The generic breakdown structure which defines a generation of bands remains, albeit as an afterthought under the onslaught of experiential metal, but the additional layers and clever structures provide the defining characteristics in this case. ‘Atlas’ provides the logical continuity for Parkway Drive, and is destined to further accelerate their climb to headline slots at any major alternative festival.
9/10
Reviewer: Ben Tipple
