Revolver has teamed with Parkway Drive for an exclusive vinyl variant of Darker Still on "opaque yellow and black" colored wax, limited to 500 copies worldwide. Get yours while they last!
Parkway Drive have always been a force unto themselves. Before Australian metalcore was a thriving and well-established ecosystem recognized by the genre's Northwestern hubs, the Byron Bay quintet were pumping out their own unique breed of razory 'core with bludgeoning breakdowns and guitar leads that gleamed like shiny pieces of coral in the sand. Over the years, their uniquely sturdy sound has developed in fresh and daring new directions, but everything they've ever released has been unmistakably Parkway.
In honor of their upcoming seventh album, Darker Still, we asked our fans to reflect on the band's entire catalog and select which songs they consider the cream of the crop. Every era of the band was well-represented, and the top five vote-getters are ranked accordingly below.
5. "Dark Days"
At the time, Parkway's 2012 LP, Atlas, was by far their most ambitious leap yet. They were still fully rooted in metalcore at this point, but the band were stretching the boundaries of where their sound could go, especially on a song like "Dark Days." With a brooding intro and loads of atmosphere throughout, this clanking monster is a climate change call to action that sounds as big and bold as its subject matter requires.
4. "Carrion"
"Carrion" is what every metalcore power ballad should sound like. This standout from Parkway's 2007 album, Horizons, cuts their typically blazing tempo in half for a bona fide anthem that's as catchy and emotionally poignant as it is fucking heavy. There's not a clean vocal in sight on here, just a soaring guitar lead and a screamed chorus that's easy to latch onto and yell back in a live setting.
3. "Bottom Feeder"
Ire is the album when Parkway fully leaned into their groove. The 2015 effort was in many ways a stark deviation from their previous material, but its risks paid off for the band — as a song like "Bottom Feeder" became one of the most beloved cuts in their repertoire. With a raspy chorus and a riff that channels the gargantuan scope of bands like Machine Head and Lamb of God, it's one of Parkway's more accessible tracks, but also one of their most head-crushing.
2. "Deliver Me"
Produced by bigwig rock boardsmith Joe Barresi, Parkway's third album, Deep Blue, polished the edges of their sound without detracting from their tremendously heavy delivery. "Deliver Me" is one of the highlights, a pounding metalcore banger that's packed with memorable one-liners and ear-perking melodic passages, but still centers a gigantic riff that builds into multiple herculean breakdowns.
1. "Romance is Dead"
Parkway have come a long way since their 2006 debut, Killing With a Smile. On that album, their sound was a ferociously deathcore-tinged take on American metalcore acts like As I Lay Dying and Killswitch Engage, and while it definitely sounds underdeveloped compared to where they'd go, they wouldn't be the band they are today without "Romance is Dead." Of all the breakdown-savvy cuts on Killing, this song gradually builds to a momentous climax, snaking through a suspenseful bridge that carefully explodes into dueling guitar leads and fiery screams to end in an epic blaze of glory. It's brutal, but also so much more.
