FIVES: THE BEST WONDER YEARS SONGSThis week Lansdale, Pennsylvania’s The Wonder Years released their fourth album - ‘The Greatest Generation,’ a record that sees the pop punk quintet reach their creative peak in a number of ways. With a wealth of material in their discography, Already Heard's Sean Reid and Tom Knott took on the tricky task of picking out the five best songs from The Wonder Years. Find out what we picked and let us know if you agree or disagree?
INTERVIEW: MALLORY KNOXFollowing the release of their superb 'Signals' album, Mallory Knox have certainly become ones to watch in recent months. We caught up with the band to discuss joining Search & Destroy Records, how vital the festival season and touring are, what it feels like to be a part
of the expanding British rock scene and much more.
ALREADY HEARD RECOMMENDS: OVER THE OCEANOver The Ocean have crafted a compelling, brooding record with their latest effort ‘Be Given To The Soil.’ With intense specific precision and delicate accuracy that echoes the likes of Explosions In The Sky and Sigur Ros. Jesse Hill from the band to discusses how the
album came together, the importance of precision, being compared to post-rock pioneers and more.
VERSUS: BRING ME THE HORIZON - 'THERE IS A HELL...' VS 'SEMPITERNAL'After a top ten UK album and an outstanding UK tour with festival dates on both sides of the Atlantic to follow, Bring Me The Horizon are having a fantastic 2013 and are now featured in the latest edition of "Versus." It's ‘There is a Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There is a Heaven, Let’s Keep it a Secret’ vs the bands latest release, 'Sempiternal.'
ALREADY HEARD TRACK GUIDE: ALEXANDER - SAY HELLOWe catch up with Newcastle Indie Rock quartet Alexander to find out more about their debut album 'Say Hello' for a “Already Heard Track Guide” feature.
INTERVIEW: TITLE FIGHTHaving briefly returned to the UK for the Hit The Deck Festival before starting a European
tour, we caught up with vocalist/bassist Ned Russin to discuss the bands progression in sound, differences between UK and US festivals, their recent split with Touché Amoré,
having friends on tour and more.
Album Review: Parkway Drive - Atlas
Australia’s metalcore quintet Parkway Drive returns with their eagerly anticipated fourth record ‘Atlas.’ Waiting two years since their third full-length ‘Deep Blue,’ fans have finally been given the chance to get their hands on the band’s latest offering. The new release coincides with a UK/Europe tour that takes place next month with support from Emmure, The Word Alive & Structures.
‘Sparks’ opens the record on a calm note, creating an ambience with soft guitar and bringing in spoken vocals. Emotions rise further with the introduction of Winston McCall’s dark roars and Ben Gordon’s destructive drums. This calmer ambience is soon waved goodbye to with ‘Old Ghost / New Regrets,’ a track that surges with greater energy by introducing heavier riffs and rapid drums.
‘Wild Eyes’ opens with a group vocal chant which is repeated later in the track, these sections guaranteed to work well in a live atmosphere. McCall experiments with his vocals in this track, producing more haunted roars in parts and this combined with the dark breakdowns make this the heaviest track on ‘Atlas’ so far. The record is significantly slowed to start with in ‘The River’ yet Parkway Drive doesn’t lose the heavy atmosphere that has already been created throughout ‘Atlas.’ Their intricate riffs are even more apparent in the slower sections of the track, with less focus on the drums than in heavier offerings.
Title track ‘Atlas’ opens with lone drums, with the welcoming of soft guitar in the foreground of the track and background vocals, mirroring a similar ambience that was created in opening ‘Sparks.’ This is a possible favourite for me on the record, with Parkway Drive experimenting with the more atmospheric side of metalcore yet keeping their heavy presence alive at the same time.
Nearing to the end of the record and after several listens I have liked every track so far; but there seems to be a repetitive element in Parkway Drive’s sound every now and again. This may be because I haven’t listened to much of their material before but I feel like most of the heavier tracks merge into one. Nonetheless, ‘Snake Oil and Holy Water’ is a very admirable, technical sounding track with bullet-speed riffs and drums throughout, complimented as usual by McCalls haunted roars.
All in all ‘Atlas’ is a very commendable fourth full-length record for Parkway Drive. The five-piece take the listener on a journey that twists and turns between calmer and heavier tracks and although there seem to be areas of repetition, ‘Atlas’ is a well written record that I’m sure fans won’t be disappointed with.
3.5/5
‘Atlas’ by Parkway Drive is available now on Epitaph Recordds.
Parkway Drive links: Official Website|Facebook|Twitter
Words by Hannah Gillicker (@HannahGillicker)
