Parkway Drive

Horizons (2007)

GlassPipeMurder

Parkway Drive, the latest emo-kid metal mashup imported to the U.S., succeeds in one of the important, but rarely defendable aspects of music. Following the eyeliner and glitter-sprinkled trail across the pond of Britain's Bullet for My Valentine and Germany's Caliban, Australia's Parkway Drive is, too, an impressive practitioner of imitation done well. And while the brash harvesting of Slayer riffage probably won't fool any mid-30 year-old with coiled locks past his shoulders, the band's emo/hardcore target audience will surely be wowed into approval at the heavy dose of soaring guitar solos and hyper-macho breakdowns.

If you've heard Parkway Drive and were paying at least a little attention through the first paragraph, there's a good chance you're ready to contest the association drawn to what I loosely refer to as "emo." And while you're correct that Rites of Spring bears little influence on Parkway Drive, the 2007 conceptualization that aligns more with an image and an emotionally burdened message is absolutely present. It's more than just the visual reflections that pin them to a far different identity than