Atlas

There’s no doubt that Parkway Drive had their work cut out for them with the release of Atlas.

Former studio releases Horizons and Deep Blue solidified their stance as one of Australia’s best musical exports, and the recent release of DVD “Home Is For The Heartless” left fans on the edges of their seats awaiting the band’s newest release and upcoming tour.

The build up to intro track “Sparks” is almost unbearable. The somewhat mystical lead of acoustic guitar and  slow drumbeats gives off a Metallica-esque vibe, even going as far to bring to mind “One”, before picking up exactly where Deep Blue left off.

Parkway Drive manages to step it up with following tracks, but none more so than “Wild Eyes” – the song is one of those great emotional metal anthems that the band’s fans will have no choice but to respond to. Props have to be given to Luke Kilpatrick and Jeff Ling, together screening perhaps the best guitar work Australian metalcore has seen to date.

Atlas continues its strong streak with the Lamb Of God-like “Swing” and a headbangers’ anthem  “The Slow Surrender”. All the while, Parkway Drive go back to their roots with harder tracks like “Sleigh Of Hand”.

Arguably the band’s most impressive work to date, Atlas is likely to conquer the global metalcore scene in ways no other Aussie band has before.

Instrumentally, lyrically and emotionally, the album sees Parkway Drive working at their peak. With such great origins, their upcoming Atlas Tour is one not to be missed.

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