The future has caught up with us… not too long ago, we considered Parkway Drive as a very young band, on the path to achieving that maturity coveted by virtually all rock bands. Nowadays, they have indeed reached it, to the extent that they performed as co-headliners alongside Lamb Of God at the Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City, one of the largest and most important venues in the country. This was to promote their most recent production, ‘Darker Still’, an album that represents their consolidation as a notably serious and proactive band throughout their career.
It’s impressive how the planet connects through music, and Parkway Drive is a prime example. Despite being Australian, their origin has not been a hindrance; on the contrary, it’s an attractive and distinctive factor, similar to what happened with AC/DC in their time.
Today, we discuss ‘Darker Still’, their seventh studio album.
What can we hear?
A mature sound, a band that has moved away from the traditional breakdowns of metalcore to explore other rhythmic techniques that make the listener nod their head back and forth, emanating power from each of the songs. Winston McCall’s vocals have found a balance between growls, guttural tones, and clean singing, as heard in ‘Glitch’. What’s interesting is that he accomplishes this without losing the heaviness of their music, a challenge many metalcore bands face when evolving.
The guitars are powerful, finding space for power chords and interesting riffs, something they have become specialists in throughout their career, but for ‘Darker Still,’ they have mastered it. The guitars in all the songs are exceptionally creative (something we criticized Metallica for in their latest album). Epic riffs are abundant, such as the intro to ‘The Greatest Fear,’ with arrangements that make you want to pick up the instrument. As for the bass, it entirely serves as support, providing low frequencies to the guitars.
One of the things we love about ‘Darker Still’ is how the drums contribute a significant part of the album’s power, with unbeatable precision. The drumming supports the guitar arrangements with the rhythmic beat of the bass drum and embellishes the more epic parts of the songs with floor toms, invoking a Viking call that demands the energy and power of its followers.
The orchestral arrangements of Darker Still
Parkway Drive now has the resources to produce at a premium level, something they effectively achieved in ‘Darker Still,’ where we can hear 100% real orchestral arrangements recorded with the delicacy they deserve. We hear an example of this in songs like ‘Darker Still,’ a kind of ballad mostly featuring clean vocals that provides a very rock-inspired moment, where the solos don’t disappoint, using the Wah effect carefully to avoid becoming repetitive.
Concluding and discussing with some of our friends who enjoy the genre, we describe what Parkway Drive is doing as ‘Modern Stadium Metal.’ We can confidently say that in the coming years, we will see these types of bands in the best stadiums worldwide, representing modern metal. Songs like ‘Imperial Heretic’ get massive crowds jumping, without the need for fast-paced rhythms, similar to what Korn did in their time, increasing their credibility despite being a young band. This song also encourages crowd sing-alongs, as we witnessed in their recent live performance.
Industrial metal is noticeable in ‘Land Of The Lost,’ with a series of synthesizers maintaining a metallic vibe characteristic of the genre, a different song that strongly reminds us of bands like Rammstein. The roots of metalcore are also present in the breakdown of ‘Soul Bleach,’ a song that proudly showcases the origins of their sound and undoubtedly brings back nostalgic memories of when these kinds of breakdowns were trending.
The new era for modern metal
Darker Still represents the beginning of a new era in metal; the moment many of us awaited from those bands we grew up with during adolescence has arrived. It’s that exact moment where we see our heroes age, and many others bid farewell to the stages, making way for the effort and dedication of the generations they influenced with their music.
That moment has arrived, and it brings us tremendous joy to hear such elaborate productions that fill us with excitement. ‘Darker Still’ is a 100% recommended album if you want to listen to something fresh or if you aim to stay updated in terms of commercial metal. This album receives a rating of 10.
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