★★½
Whether it’s down to a conscious business decision or a result of frivolous experimentation, Parkway Drive’s fifth albumIresets its sights on the realm of stadium metal, chug-full of anthems and glutinous production values.
The Parkway identity still runs through the veins of this record, but their attempts to take an already successful venture to the mainstream metal masses are unabashedly apparent. Fleeting moments of the band’s trademark ferocity are swept away by a tidal wave of ’80s hair metal cheese. From the orchestral accompaniment on ‘Writings On The Wall’to the classical guitar on ‘A Deathless Song’, Ire follows the signature of a by-the-numbers festival headliner. Even the anthemic ‘We Will Rock You’rhythm on ‘Writings On The Wall’ screams for stadium crowd participation.
The band’s hardcore element has given way to wailing guitar harmonies and bounce-along Slipknot groove, with vocalist Winston McCall at times channelling the methods of Corey Taylor. It’s the equivalent of Tommy Lee and Jim Root locked hand-in-hand in a hardcore handshake.
Fans of Parkway’s 2005 debut Killing With A Smile will most likely shun the change in direction. But the energy-drink-gulping, summer-festival-attending mainstream metal audience will froth over the abundance bang-your-head riffs.
Parkway Drive‘sIreis out on Resist.
