Parkway Drive - Deep Blue
Rating
RIYL
Beneath The SkyAugust Burns Red
The Ghost Inside
Conducting From the Grave
Release Date
06/29/2010
Label
EpitaphTracklist
1. Samsara2. Unrest
3. Sleepwalker
4. Wreckage
5. Dead Weight
6. Alone
7. Pressures
8. Deliver Me
9. Karma
10. Home Is For The Heartless
11. Hollow
12. Leviathan I
13. Set To Destroy
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I found an article on Noisecreep.com when I was doing some research for this album and in it a very candid quote from vocalist Winston McCall which I found telling and will also explain the ultimate conclusion of this review. He said, “I just know that there is and always will be something more to this music [metalcore] and life than is being put out there by most heavier bands today. Playing open chugs doesn't equate to hardcore. Triggering your drums and squealing like a pig doesn't mean you're metal.” One of the main threads weaving its way through Deep Blue is a search for the emotion that seems to be gone. While presumably about a personal struggle, in a different context we can apply this search to metalcore in general. In many of my reviews I’ve done a lot of moralizing on the state of the genre and with good reason. The decrepit state of creativity in the scene has left metalcore on life support, with assembly-line mentalities producing assembly-line products. Thankfully, Deep Blue does not follow suit.
Parkway Drive has long been in the big leagues in terms of exposure, but it wasn’t until now that they joined the ranks of a precious few bands in the artistic big leagues. Their earlier material was just okay, and to be honest, fairly generic. This is no longer the case. Deep Blue is a true break-out, an evolution of an act from promising to a realized entity. From the moment “Samsara” surges to life, something just feels different. Not only are the songs monstrous and dynamic, but taken as a complete work the entire album is coherent and, with one notable exception which I will get to later, virtually perfect. Rare is the effort where each song can stand on its own and interact with the rest of the album to form a complete picture. This is just such a record.
As far as the individual songs are concerned, the highlights are many. The buzz generated by the video for “Sleepwalker” is not just about the content and the cinematography—there’s an excellent song backing the whole thing. The melody at about the three minute mark of “Deliver Me” is absolutely sublime. In fact, the band’s decision to stop using melody so gratuitously and to let it better augment the proceedings is evidenced time and again. Let’s call it a more tasteful application. As for the band’s metallic body, things have gotten downright steroidal. Check the towering breakdowns in “Dead Weight,” “Karma,” and “Pressures” if you have any doubt.
Now for that one exception to my fanboy drooling, and unfortunately, it’s a big one. All great records have that great closing song, and though “Set to Destroy” is decent, it’s no closer. It’s fairly unmemorable, and it ends way too abruptly. This is not only an irritant, but it poses a big problem that could have easily been rectified. Frustration with the ending of the album aside, though, Deep Blue is squarely in my year-end top-ten list and nothing could dislodge it. It’s incredible. It’s still an album of the year contender, and outside of the ending of the album it might be a shoe-in. I think really the only conclusion left to be made is that if you like metalcore and you don’t like this, you probably don’t have a pulse.
--Jake Oliver
Comments
Minneapolis, MN
You mention this album feels different. This is the first Parkway album that hasn't had Adam D. producing on it. Adam is known for doing things hard, fast, and 100x until it's absolutely perfect. From what I know of Joe Barresi is he's used to working with rock bands that play in arenas. He did the last CoCa album and the last Isis album. He's more about getting a natural sound than nailing a chord progression.
Update: OK, everyone else can just stop making records for the rest of the year because this is all I'm going to listen to for the rest of the year.
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San Diego, CA
Interesting, I didn't know that. That explains it then. Thanks dude.
Too old to bother, too young to give a shit.
Lehigh Valley, PA
I did not expect much from this band anymore. They were becoming very boring to me and very generic. This album however, is practically perfect. It's such a step up from their previous shit. I cannot get enough of it. Good review Jake.
San Diego, CA
Thank you sir. I feel the exact same way
Too old to bother, too young to give a shit.
London, UK
Good review. Am real excited to listen to this now.
Currently listening to:
Tetrafusion - Horizons EP
NAMI - Fragile Alignments
Fleshgod Apocalypse - Agony
A Hope For Home - In Abstraction
Blindead - Affliction XXIX II MXMVI
Canada
real good cd. 10x better than anything else theyve put out. i feel the emotion and passion, the production is amazing when listened to really loud bass slightly turned down. i love the song hollow
Minnesota
Definitely liking this, but I think I'm starting to sour on the whole straight up metalcore genre in general. I'm pretty sure I'll only listen to this when I'm lifting weights or out for a run. It's good for what it is, but I wasn't blown away.
Find me EVERYWHERE:
Dallas, TX
I didn't enjoy their second album as much as their debut, like Bill said it got a bit too generic and boring. With that said, I am excited to listen to this after the positive reaction it is getting
Infinitely Inwards
Excellent Album.
Ever Forthright - Ever Forthright
Fallujah - The Harvest Wombs
The New Law - The Fifty Year Storm
ERRA - Impulse
Aborted - Global Flatline
Steven Wilson - Grace for Drowning
Crippled Black Phoenix - (Mankind)The Crafty Ape
Illinois
i like it, it's everything i expected it to be.
last.fm/user/tragedyl0ve
twitter.com/1000cleverlines
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Portland, OR
This band seems to represent everything I like about metalcore. Rocking out pretty hard to this.
I'm Jeff, by the way. I'm going to be doing some reviews pretty soon, and I'm very excited for this. Been a fan of this site for a long time!
San Diego, CA
Awesome, welcome aboard!
Too old to bother, too young to give a shit.
Dubuque
Am I seriously the only person who didn't get into this?
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Minneapolis, MN
Probably. Bad Chris! Go in your corner and don't come out until you like it.
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Lehigh Valley, PA
What the hell is wrong iwth you lately?
Wilmington DE
well i have only listened to a few songs off their myspace page so i dont know if its better when you view all the songs together as a whole but so far I might have to agree with Chris. Then again i've never listened to this band before so I cant really tell how much there sound has progressed. Though the music video for sleepwalker is really good.
Listening to:
Tides of Man
Oceansize
The Contortionist
We are the City
Periphery
Coopersburg, PA
Once again, I"m gonna have to agree with Chris on this one, I can't get into this and I don't see how it's any different/better than their older albums. It's good for what it is but I got bored with it pretty quickly. Any time a band like this uses a lot of slower tempos, it loses me.
Between this and The Ghost Inside, I feel like an alien for not getting into either of those releases, haha, I'm glad at least one person sees it my way though.
Atascadero, CA
I'll join the whole not really feeling this cd bandwagon as well. I've given it a fair chance now and there's only like two-three songs that are good, the rest just leave me bored and wanting to skip tracks. Having a hard time with Stick to Your Guns as well, was stoked for some solid heavy stuff but am not finding it here.
Decoymusic.com (CEO/Founder)
Blue Reef Design Studios (Web Development)
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Spokane, Washington
track 7 sold me on this record, then track 10 ruined it. how fucking cheesy is the whole "whaaaooooo, whaaaoooo" part? leave that bullshit to terrible arena rock bands.
current listenings:
Of Virtue - "Heartsounds"
Capsule - "No Ghost"
Century - "Red Giant"
James Vincent McMorrow - "Early In The Morning"
Blind Pilot - "We Are The Tide"
Kansas
letdown of the year.
http://rateyourmusic.com/~benny06