Artist: Parkway Drive
Album: Killing With a Smile
Label: Epitaph Records
Tracks: 11
Length: 39:42

 

 

Metalcore is a fickle beast. When it was fresh and new heavy music fans couldn’t get enough of it but now it’s an overcrowded scene with some very talented bands leading it. The point is that it is a LOT harder to stand out in this scene now than it ever has been. Bands like Shadow’s Fall, As I Lay Dying, Unearth, and Killswitch Engage have taken the genre to new heights and now fans can safely add Australia’s Parkway Drive to the short list.

 

Parkway Drive establish right from the opening onslaught of “Gimme AD” that they are no strangers to musicianship, producing a blistering first few tracks that shed light on just how terrible some of the bands in this genre are, exposing the weak and consuming them with each new note. The fact that these guys are so talented almost takes you back a bit at first; these guys aren’t the straight out of the garage style bands whom we have grown accustomed to being the norm. Songs like “Knives for a Pro,” “Pandora,” and “Mutiny” breathe new life into the almost dead inciting an internal riot that I honestly didn’t expect to hear. There is a lot of passion on Killing With a Smile that will appeal to fans of both hardcore and metal, without offending either.

 

It’s no surprise that Adam D. from Killswitch Engage appears here as the producer and engineer as he is no stranger to the exceptional end of metalcore. His influence is definitely felt throughout the CD but the band never seems overwhelmed by it, coming off fresh, original, and memorable on every track. The world needs more bands like this.