After 15 years, Parkway Drive frontman Winston McCall says he and the band have finally amassed the confidence and experience to make the music they want to make.
And that's exactly what Parkway Drive have done on their new album 'Reverence', a powerful testament to the sonic versatility of one of the country's defining metal exports.
“The creation of 'Reverence' is the first time where we acknowledged the fact we could create a spectrum of audio within the band, which was basically anything we wanted to do [and] was far more vast than anything we tried previously,” Winston says.
“At the same point it was the first time we were acknowledging in ourselves that we could do this, that it wasn't something out of the band's sphere of expertise or that we didn't have the skills to do it or that it wouldn't sound right... I think that's where the difference has been made.”
'Reverence' is the sixth full-length studio album for Parkway Drive and Winston reveals the writing of it was largely informed by a series of personal losses and tragedies that occurred while touring their 2015 album 'Ire'.
“We dealt with a lot of loss, very personal, while the band was going through the cycle of 'Ire', playing that record around the world and the band exploding,” he says.
“We had people very close to us, friends and family, diagnosed with terrible illness and subsequently figuring out how to be people and how to still be a band while that was going on, and then coping with loss of those people as well... reaching the ultimate point of tragedy and those people passing away.”
Forced to confront the fragility of life while enduring a punishing touring schedule and maintaining their public persona, Winston says they had no choice but to be utterly fearless with 'Reverence'. “We didn't have any insecurities, we just made the music we wanted to make and made sure it was good,” he says.
“I'm not going to say 'luckily' any more because there wasn't much luck about it; I'm glad we've had 15 years to work this out and that it's coming together and continues to evolve. At this point in time it's evolving on top of confidence rather than luck; it's a really powerful thing to be able to put it to music.”
After conquering Europe, Winston says he's most looking forward to finally being able to bring the full Parkway Drive live experience to Australia when they tour 'Reverence' October through November. “Parkway in Australia has grown to this size that we couldn't have guessed would happen,” he says.
“Then somewhere along the way Europe took over and we were able to create a live show, but we have yet to have the chance to bring that to Australia because we couldn't find a way to bring the gear over and we couldn't find the venues big enough to actually put the gear in.
“So f... it, we're bringing the entire European festival rig to Australia and with no punches pulled. If you really want to see what Parkway is capable of and what this band has grown in to, this is the show you want to go to.”
'Reverence' is available now.
Parkway Drive Australia Tour 2018
Thu 25 Oct - UC Refectory (Canberra)Fri 26 Oct - Hordern Pavilion (Sydney)
Sat 27 Oct - Newcastle Exhibition & Convention Centre
Sun 28 Oct - Riverstage (Brisbane)
Fri 2 Nov - Margaret Court Arena (Melbourne)
Sat 3 Nov - Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Tue 6 Nov - HBF Stadium (Perth)
