Parkway Drive have announced their seventh studio album, Darker Still, launching its second single, The Greatest Fear.
Arriving September 9 via Epitaph, Darker Still represents, as frontman Winston McCall enthuses, the pinnacle of the Byron Bay metalcore titans’ songwriting career.
“When Parkway originally started out, we all were trying to push ourselves to do more than we possibly could,” he says. “What you hear on Darker Still is the final fulfillment of our ability to learn and grow catching up with the imagination that we have always had.”
Like previously released single Glitch – which dropped last month – The Greatest Fear is sonically similar to the band’s last full-length outing, Reverence, with pummeling mid-tempo riffs, arena-worthy chorus sections and the odd dazzling lead line from Jeff Ling. Check out its grandiose, sci-fi-themed music video below.
As McCall explains, the track is about “the greatest fear that we all share; the unifying force we all must face – death”.
“The goal was to create a song that saw death not as something that separates, but something that connects us all on our paths. Musically, we wanted to create a song that did this concept justice. It’s heavy, it’s epic and when it stomps it leaves an impact.”
Take a look at Darker Still’s track list below.
- Ground Zero
- Like Napalm
- Glitch
- The Greatest Fear
- Darker Still
- Imperial Heretic
- If a God Can Bleed
- Soul Bleach
- Stranger
- Land of the Lost
- From the Heart of the Darkness
Darker Still likely comes as somewhat of a surprise to many Parkway Drive fans, after the band recently canceled their scheduled 2022 North America tour citing mental health reasons.
“The relentless nature of being in this band has given us very little time to reflect on who we are as individuals,” the band wrote on social media back in April. “We feel the limit has been reached and we don’t want to fuck this up.”
In another post in May, that band wrote: “Mental health is an ever-present issue within our society and we are no exception. As touring started back up, we found ourselves at a crossroads. Continue down the same path, risk more damage and more than likely destroy the band and ourselves, or take the time needed to do the work on ourselves and heal. We are doing the work and know that ultimately, this was the correct choice.”
But while the band canceled their 2022 North America tour, their European tour – which is scheduled to run from September 9 until September 30 – is still going ahead, with tickets available to purchase from the band’s website.
