December 2022 Feature Release - The Gateway Edition

So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.

This month's feature release for The Gateway, nominated by me (Shadowdoom9 (Andi)), is the brand-new 7th album from NSW-based alternative metal/metalcore band Parkway Drive, Darker Still. Yet another album that I enjoy a bit of and my brother likes a couple songs from. It continues the band's journey through their melodic path, but a good leap in quality compared to the previous album Reverence.

https://metal.academy/releases/39545

Here's my review summary:

This album is as dark as the title would suggest! Apparently, the theme is confront a destructive event and standing up against it with your beliefs as you make your journey through this dark world. In other words, instead of living in nightmarish misery, let this metal tale motivate you to rise in resistance against what life has to threaten you. There are anthems to expect from this album, filled with heavy defiance and epic balladry, as you make a journey through Hell that you can pleasantly battle through and come out with as many scars as the band had making this powerful offering. The songs with the most strength come from the first half, though a couple ones in the second half are great too. All part of this test of promised survival....

4/5

Recommended tracks: "Ground Zero", "Glitch", "The Greatest Fear", "Darker Still", "From the Heart of the Darkness"

For fans of: Bad Wolves, Five Finger Death Punch, Disturbed

This is a record that upon my first listen, I was less than impressed. I wanted to enjoy it after Ire, but felt like something was missing here. But once I reached the albums conclusion, "From the Heart of the Darkness", something ticked in my brain. And it was after that I immediately returned to the beginning of the record again to pick up on all of those things that I missed and are now so clear. 

Parkway Drive are not the same band that released Horizons. They have grown beyond this and hearing a more mature sound is commendable. I really enjoy how "The Greatest Fear" has the foundation of a symphonic metal track, but does not include any symphonic swells. It's difficult to call Parkway Drive metalcore in 2022, but I think they pulled it off. Like with Northlane, Parkway Drive are not chasing trends and has resulted in blowback from the fanbase, and the music has turned out better for it.

7/10

I'm about to go into my first Parkway Drive record ever. These guys are from Byron Bay which is less than an hour away from where I live on the Gold Coast so it's about time really, particularly given how huge these guys are on a global scale. I guess I've just never felt they'd interest me much. Anyway... wish me luck.

Good luck, Daniel! I look forward to seeing what you think of their new album.

I'm afraid I couldn't get into this one much as it's simply too poppy for my taste. There are three or four really decent 3.5-4 star tracks included ("Land of the Lost" & album highlight "Glitch" are especially solid) & the production & execution is excellent but the majority of the album sits in spaces that I'm not that all that comfortable, particularly the Fred Durst-ish vocal approach that pops up here & there. In fact, there's definitely a bit of nu metal about this album at times. Strangely, the back end of the tracklisting is where most of the best tracks can be found with three of the last four all being more than decent alternative metal numbers. 

For fans of Bad Wolves, Avatar & latter-day In Flames.

3/5