Australian metalcore act Parkway Drive have made their long-awaited return to the United States for their first American headlining tour since March/April 2013. The month-long trek- which features Miss May I and fellow Aussies Thy Art is Murder and In Hearts Wake in support-to promote their new album Ire stormed into the House of Blues in Boston, Massachusetts last night and proved once again with their fierce performance why they're one of the biggest powerhouses in modern metal.
In Hearts Wake: They had already finished up by the time I got to the venue. I'm not really familiar with their stuff and what little I had heard of their material didn't impress me, so missing their set didn't bother me in the slightest.
Thy Art is Murder: Anyone that's looking for a tutorial on how to do deathcore right needs to go to a Thy Art is Murder show. The breakdowns are colossal, their energy is off-the-charts, and C.J McMahon is an incredible vocalist whose vocals only become more powerful and sinister in a live setting. Aside from the head-scratching decision to open with the mid-paced "Absolute Genocide" from their new record Holy War, their setlist was pretty great. The material from Holy War sounded excellent live and the trio of cuts ("Shadow of Eternal Sin", "The Purest Strain of Hate", "Reign of Darkness") from their breakout album Hate hit as hard as ever. In a very hit-or-miss genre that's been rapidly losing steam over the past several years, Thy Art is Murder remains a reliably great act that's at their best in a live environment.
Miss May I: This marked the third time I've seen Miss May I this year and per usual, they were pretty solid. The biggest difference between this go-round and the previous two times I'd seen them in 2015 was the emphasis on material from their recently-released album Deathless and the improved clean vocals from Ryan Neff. Deathless is the best album they've put out since 2010's Monument and the more technical and catchy nature of the songs from that album made this performance more enjoyable than the other times I've seen them. As for Neff, he's shown a substantial amount of improvement as a vocalist since the first time I saw them back in 2012. He was the weakest aspect of the band's live shows for a long time, but this time around his strong, clear vocals made him their standout performer. Miss May I will never be a band that blows you away with their performance, but their consistency and high energy levels make them a more than respectable live act.
Parkway Drive: After seeing them at Warped Tour 2010 and 2014 and being a fan of theirs for seven years or so, last night marked the first time I got to see Parkway Drive headline. To be completely honest, I wasn't nearly excited as I should've been to see them because of how underwhelming their new record Ire is. Ire is the first of their records that I didn't enjoy and I was concerned that the wealth of material they were bound to play from it was going to ruin the show for me. Once again, my worries about were quickly put at ease once when they broke out a pair of Ire tracks in "Destroyer" and "Dying to Believe" to open up the set. The massive riffs, gang vocals and cheesy breakdowns made these tracks rousing and fun as hell live. "Destroyer", "Dying to Believe" and the rest of the material from Ire may be simplistic and disjointed, but it thrives in a live setting. While the Ire material was surprisingly impressive, the older material still made up a majority of the high points of the set. "Carrion", "Idols and Anchors" and "Romance is Dead" saw vocalist Winston McCall conjuring up his finest vocal performances of the night and garnered some of the strongest crowd reactions of the night. While Parkway Drive slays whatever songs they play, these tracks from their first two records (2005's Killing with a Smile and 2007's Horizons) stand a cut above everything else they've ever done. Hopefully the strong reactions to the aforementioned tracks inspire them to play more old material on their next headliner. Parkway Drive is one of the genre's truly elite live acts and I hope that they'll do another headlining tour in the States before too long.
Side Notes:
-Parkway Drive guitarist Jeff Ling tore his hamstring in a surfing accident a couple of weeks before this tour started and was forced to perform in a wheelchair. Ling didn't let the constraints of a wheelchair take him out as he was often smiling and exuding as much energy as he possibly could given his condition.
-To make Ling feel more involved in the show, bassist Jia O'Connor went over and spun him around the stage at numerous points throughout the set.
-A kid on the floor was having someone from the mezzanine section throw open beers down to him. Remarkably, he caught every single one without spilling a substantial amount on anyone else.
-A couple standing in front of me and my friends was practically having clothed sex during Thy Art is Murder and Miss May I. It was equal parts hilarious, confusing and disgusting.
Scores:
Thy Art is Murder 8/10
Miss May I 7.5/10
Parkway Drive 9/10
Setlists:
Thy Art is Murder:
Absolute Genocide
Coffin Dragger
The Purest Strain of Hate
Shadow of Eternal Sin
Reign of Darkness
Light Bearer
Holy War
Miss May I:
I.H.E.
Relentless Chaos
Bastards Left Behind
Our Kings
Deathless
Masses of A Dying Breed
Turn Back the Time
Hey Mister
Parkway Drive:
Destroyer
Dying to Believe
Carrion
Karma
Dark Days
Vice Grip
Idols and Anchors
Deliver Me
Wild Eyes
Bottom Feeder
Romance is Dead
Encore:
Crushed
Home is for the Heartless
No comments:
Post a Comment