By Phil Cooper
Since their inception in 2003, Australian metallers Parkway Drive have been hell bent on bringing their brand of hard hitting anthemic metalcore to as many people as possible. Along the way they’ve earned themselves a legion of fans as well as a host of naysayers. People love them and love to hate them. Initially, I was one of the latter category. I just didn’t get it. Their music never won me over. Then I heard ‘Ire’ and saw more of their live performances and I was a convert. The fan polarisation came to the fore when they took to the headline slot of 2019’s Bloodstock festival with many praising the organisers for giving Parkway the chance while others were highly vocal in their dismay. Quite rightly the Byron Bay quintet heeded none of the negative comments and set about putting together a live show with the goal to win everyone over and leave the doubters crushed.
They fully succeeded. Parkway have consistently been a band that put in the full one hundred percent in a live show and their passion always shines through. ‘Viva The Underdogs’ now gives fans the chance to have a slice of it in their own homes.
Primarily this record is the soundtrack to the band’s ambitious movie documentary of the same name that featured in a number of cinemas worldwide. However, for those that haven’t seen the film it can also serve as a stand-alone live album featuring 11 tracks taken from Parkway’s 2019 Wacken Open Air headline set. As a little bonus there are an additional three tracks in the form of ‘Vice Grip’, ‘The Void’ and ‘Shadow Boxing’ re-recorded in German and featuring German rapper Casper.
The live tracks beginning with ‘Prey’ showcase Parkway at the peak of what they’re capable of in a live setting. Frontman Winston McCall can be heard from the get go getting the crowd engaged and drawing on all of the collective band energy to propel the lyrics with layered aggressive energy. From the opening notes the chemistry of the band is exemplified as all five musicians are locked together to deliver the single goal of a storming set. The bass of Jia O’Connor and drums of Ben Gordon lock together to form a colossal rhythmic drive that propels everything with an unstoppable force. The kick drum reverberates through the speakers and fills any room that your listening in. The anthemic nature of the band showcased on tracks like ‘The Void’, ‘Wild Eyes’ and ‘Chronos’ is driven by the guitars of Jeff Ling and Luke Kilpatrick. The crowd take it upon themselves to singalong with the guitar lines as well as the lyrics and enhance the expansive sound. With the mix working to deliver a unified and clear sound, the guitars sound huge, sweeping through the lead melodies and dominating riffs that when put with the rhythm section delivers the crushing live sound that Parkway have become known for. All the while the vocals deliver all the emotion laced throughout the lyrics and offer the passion that engages the crowd on every level. The lyric attack of ‘Dedicated’ drips with every bit of aggression that the studio version has but is enhanced ten-fold here and the crowd response provides the perfect backdrop for it.
The closing two tracks of the live set are ‘Crushed’ and ‘Bottom Feeder’ both taken from the critically well received album ‘Ire’ and rightfully get the biggest crowd response on the record. The listener can almost feel the crowd around them as there’s the constant roar of approval and support during the whole live set, however it comes to a head on these last two tracks. On the final refrain of ‘Bottom Feeder’ the energy coming from the record is enough to almost get the listener jumping along at Winston’s command. Uncompromising in their heavy sound and dominant aggression, both tracks serve as the showcase for what Parkway are capable of delivering. With tracks of this calibre in their live set, it’s difficult to see that they’ll be able to be referred to as underdogs for much longer.
The remaining three tracks on the record represent the band undertaking a different challenge. Translating the lyrics of three popular tracks into another language is a tricky task as it involves re-evaluating the meaning and emotion behind the originals and understanding how to incorporate that into a language as logical as German. The band have stated that it’s done as a salute to the support that they’ve received from the German crowds over the years, exemplified by the preceding tracks on the album. It’s a tough experiment to undertake, yet they have pulled it off. It will definitely offer something for fans to hear them in a different light as well as help cement Parkway’s German support.
As a live album it’s excellent. Well mastered throughout with instruments clearly defined and mixed to give the biggest possible sound with no loss of clarity. This includes not only the vocals but also the crowd noises and in between tracks moments. It encapsulates the power and energy that Parkway bring to their live shows and provides a prime example of why they should rightly be considered a dominant force in today’s metal scene. Not saying this is an album that will necessarily rank with the likes of Thin Lizzy’s ‘Live and Dangerous’ or The Who’s ‘Live at Leeds’, however, it is an outstanding live offering that will be great to educate anyone who is still sceptical about Parkway Drive.
- ‘Viva The Underdogs’ is released today (Friday 27 March). You can get your copy, and loads of other goodies, HERE.
- Parkway Drive play their rescheduled show at London’s SSE Arena on Thursday 19 November. Tickets for the original date remain valid.
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