Parkway DriveBlue and green lights wash an otherwise black stage as GC hardcore types Survival flex their muscle with some no-bullshit rips. Frontman Michael Elmes gets around the stage with Cyco Mike-esque pump, and overall the guys don't stray too far from the formula, but it's heavy, brutal and done really fucking well.
Far from a support act, Thy Art Is Murder make the short 40 minute slot their own. Lee Stanton's kick drum rhythms dent your skull with machine-like precision, while the growls of Chris McMahon don't even resemble human sounds; they're noises you'd associate with a natural disaster or an exorcism. It's incredibly horrific stuff. The setlist is predominantly made up of more recent offerings – The Purist Strain Of Hate, Vile Creations – but older song Infinite Death stands tall against its modern contemporaries with clinical time changes that happen on a dime. McMahon gives the bleak music personality and humour, and peppers final stand Reign Of Darkness with a few stage dives to keep the front rows honest.
Tonight's ten-year anniversary set from Parkway Drive quickly shows itself as something special with a small video montage on dominant background screens highlighting the humble beginnings of the group: who they are, where they've come from. This is mirrored in the structure of the show, which works from the start of the Byron quintet's career – I Watched, the first song they ever wrote – right through to their more recent world-conquering releases. Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em and Don't Close Your Eyes still stand up incredibly well, with Parkway's current skill levels allowing them to truly own the songs, while Gimme A D and Pandora cause the room to erupt. The silhouettes band members are casting onstage are now iconic in Australian metal, and every time Winston McCall raises his open palm or Jeff Ling arches his leg during a guitar solo it looks timeless – it makes your hairs stand on end.
The cover art work of Horizons and Deep Blue look amazing blazing in lights; The Sirens' Song, Horizons and Sleepwalker sound phenomenal, too. By this stage the room is sweltering, shirts are being lost, but Parkway are relentless in their playing, having the best time as always as they run rings on the stage like forever stoked hyperactive kids. Michael Elmes reappears for back-ups on Deliver Me before a few mass singalongs run out the night in the way of Home Is For The Heartless, Wild Eyes and expected encore, Carrion. Parkway Drive have never sounded better and performed stronger onstage, and although we looked back tonight, it still feels like the best is yet to come.
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