ALBUM REVIEW: Reverence – Parkway Drive

Where do you even start with a band like PARKWAY DRIVE? Darlings of the metalcore scene in the mid to late 2000’s, when others fell by the wayside their stock just continued to grow. Knowing they would have to evolve sooner or later, 2015’s Ire saw them gleefully jump into trad metal territory and produce an album of such class and magnificence that they sold out two UK tours and bagged themselves a huge spot headlining the second stage at this year’s instalment of Download Festival. Not resting on their laurels though, they’re coming to Donington armed with Reverence, their sixth studio album.

In many ways, this will be eventually known PARKWAY DRIVE‘s Black Album, because although the departure from their origins has not been as sudden or drastic as the one METALLICA undertook, Reverence is a further evolution on Ire. It is another step into the more epic style of metalcore that has been championed by the likes of ARCHITECTS and BRING ME THE HORIZON on All Our Gods… and Sempiternal. Gone are the persistent breakdowns and hardcore elements which tore through the likes of Horizons and Killing with a Smile (save for one exception) and in its place are massive trad-metal riffs, earth-shattering choruses and a real sense that PARKWAY DRIVE have not so much broken the glass ceiling between them and arena shows on these shores as annihilated it.

Opening track Wishing Wells is the bastard child of SLIPKNOT and LAMB OF GOD, with huge sweeping guitars, a chorus that’s as bouncy as it is brutal and Winston McCall sounding positively apoplectic with venom and spite. The more classic styling of IRON MAIDEN come into play on second single The Void, I Hope You Rot and the expansive Chronos; the former two combine twin guitars for the licks and solos, the latter an expansive, layered experience with an intro that brings to mind the anthemic MAIDEN track To Tame a Land. When it comes to anthems though, it’s latest release Prey that stands out, unashamedly drawing on AMON AMARTH for a nautical, fist-pumping riff and yet again a gigantic chorus that would sound superb played out across something like Alexandra Palace.

Away from the chaos, PARKWAY DRIVE have not been afraid to experiment a little more and bring things down a notch or two. Cemetery Bloom is dark and ambient, moving along like a prowling animal with its poetic, gripping lyrics, a male choral gang vocal and only introducing drums and guitars towards the end. Closing track The Colour of Leaving is just as sinister, only this one is more reflective and with words that talk about the exhaustion at arguing with God completely mirror Wishing Wells’ furious swipe at killing the Almighty himself, suggesting a conceptual theme running through Reverence. Those that are reading this and pining for those earlier, pre-Ire vibes can at least taken comfort in Absolute Power, which shows that the band are not quite ready to abandon their roots with its hooks and massive breakdowns – the line “the truth drops like a bomb” that precedes them could not be more apt – but this is one of the few moments that hark back to the past.

The fervour on social media around Reverence has certainly been more divisive than before, and it would not be a surprise to see some of those that have followed PARKWAY DRIVE from the very beginning to turn their backs on the Australians, but the army of followers who will join in support will far outnumber the deserters. The biggest band from Down Under since AC/DC are at the very top of their game and are only going to get better.

Rating: 9/10

Reverence is set for release on May 4th via Epitaph Records.

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