Australian metal band Parkway Drive have unleashed their fifth studio effort ‘Ire’ and have decided to finally shake up the metalcore formula that they’ve applied on all of their previous records. By inducing more classic heavy metal riffs with 80’s influences, Parkway Drive have delivered their finest album to date.
Frontman Winston McCall had said previous to the release of ‘Ire’ that he questioned the band using the same riffs, breakdowns and vocal style over the past decade and didn’t know what the point of releasing a new effort even was anymore — if they all sounded the same. With ‘Ire’, Parkway Drive have introduced more classic metal riffs and arrangements while still maintaining McCall’s ferocious vocals. As a result the songs are more memorable, stand apart from one another and they’re still heavier than shit.
Don’t worry, there are breakdowns, there are brutal vocals, there is everything you need and love for a successful heavy metal record and Parkway Drive did not sell out – they evolved. The band has struck a nerve here and in the process crafted one of 2015’s best metal efforts, if not the best — and this is a year when Lamb of God and Slipknot have returned to full form…
‘Vice Grip’ has a chorus that if sung by Vince Neil would fit perfectly on a new Motley Crue album but thankfully McCall graces it with a vengeance as he belts it out in a fury. Backup harmonies layered behind McCall work very well here and that’s where the classic metal elements are most evident. Parkway Drive went back to the basics of 1980’s heavy metal and put their own stamp and style on top of it with ‘Ire’ and thankfully it worked like a charm.
I love Parkway Drive’s debut record ‘Killing With a Smile’ – at the time it was metalcore at it’s finest but all these years later we needed something new, something different and ‘Ire’ is just what all of us metalheads really craved but maybe didn’t realize it in 2015. It’s going to be hard headbanging and moshing while holding up a lighter at the same time but I think you psychos could probably pull it off at the next Parkway Drive concert — maybe you’ll create a new trend with firemosh.
Rating: [star rating=”5″]