BACK FROM THE BRINK

SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED IN THE FOUR YEARS THAT PASSED SINCE THE LAST PARKWAY DRIVE ALBUM. HERE, WINSTON MCCALL EXPLAINS HOW DARKER STILL' ALMOST BROKE HIS BAND, THEN PULLED THEM THROUGH.

- MADDY HOWELL

On Saturday, February 02, 2019, Parkway Drive took to the stage for a sold-out show at London's Alexandra Palace. Celebrating their pivotal 2018 album, 'Reverence', with a crowd 10,000-strong and enough theatrics, flames, and heart to fill a venue twice its size, it was a night that showcased a band at the top of their game, and one with no plans of slowing down. Cementing their position as metal's most formidable trailblazers, as they rounded off a year on the road, the five-piece kickstarted 2020 with the release of the documentary 'Viva The Underdogs'. A behind-the-scenes look into 17 years of running full speed ahead, as they relived their unstoppable journey, no one could have guessed that just weeks later the world would push them into their first solid break in almost two decades.

Forced to scrap their 2020 touring cycle, as lockdown orders gripped Australia, Parkway Drive had time to reflect. Looking towards their future, they began defining the course of a new album with one decisive mantra in mind dream bigger.

"The creation process happened in a realm where we were like, 'This could be the last thing that you ever create, because nothing's ever coming back'. We had to think, 'If you're going to create one piece of art, what's it going to be? And how far are you going to go?'," vocalist Winston McCall starts.

"This was a really hard album to write, and truthfully it came really fucking close to destroying this band. We were dealing with so many serious issues with the members of the band because of what had to go into doing this. It's largely down to the pressure that we put on ourselves to create and to reach a certain standard.