Band:	Parkway Drive
Album:	Horizons
Style:	Metalcore
Release date:	October 06, 2007
Guest review by:	Boxcar Willy

01. Begin
02. The Sirens' Song
03. Feed Them To The Pigs
04. Carrion
05. Five Months
06. Boneyards
07. Idols And Anchors
08. Moments In Oblivion
09. Breaking Point
10. Dead Man's Chest
11. Frostbite
12. Horizons

First of all, before the review starts I'd like to say how much I love Parkway Drive's name, I mean it has that corniness that all metalcore bands should have, but it doesn't go over the top... I guess you can describe the music like that too.

Parkway Drive hails from down under, playing some slamming metalcore with crazy fast and technical leads, hard hitting breakdowns and a plethora of other goodies. First, and definitely the best aspect, is the guitar work. I mean, you don't get kids on YouTube covering your songs for pride if they aren't hard to play. Some of the lead riffs blow my mind away, and just when I think that's it - BOOM another riff on top of that. I seriously can't understand how the band can remember the order for these riffs.

As expected, bass is only audible if you are Gary McBasslapper; this is a problem with most modern albums, so I think it's a problem most of us have gotten used to. I wish we could hear it however, because I'm sure it's as good as the guitars.

Drumming is fairly average, your standard double bass fills, crash cymbal breakdowns and just simplicity all around. However this really isn't a big deal, because most of the time you're focused on the insane guitar work.

Part four is the vocals, which are nice. Why "nice"? They are nice because they don't do what you expect them to... there is no clean singing here. None, zero, zilch, nada. (Okay, maybe half a verse.) All of this time writing leads and bass lines isn't ruined by clean vocals. So thanks Parkway Drive, that was nice of you.

This all being said, there are some flaws, minimalistic as they are. The biggest flaw is that a lot of the songs sound very similar; riffs are sometimes reused and only slightly modified. Not a big deal if it's your first time listening, but I imagine it would get very repetitive for the average listener to hear this 16 times while on a car trip or something. The other noticeable flaw is that the vocals stay the same for 90% of the album: your standard barking and growling. There isn't anything new added to the picture. (But still, thanks for no cleans!)

Overall, this is a metalcore album for those who aren't a fan of metalcore. If you are this could possibly become your favourite album.

Highlight - "Carrion"