Old Ghosts / New Regrets, a brand new song from Australian metallers Parkway Drive, can be streamed in the YouTube clip below. The track comes off the band’s fourth album, Atlas, which will be released on October 30 via Epitaph Records. The deluxe package will include the Home Is For The Heartless DVD, a unique travelogue that follows the band’s adventures touring to many obscure destinations including Colombia, China and India.
Yet another creative leap forward for the chart-topping Australian band,Atlas boasts some of the most up front and confrontational material Parkway Drive has ever released, while at the same time taking several unexpected turns into lush sonic terrain, redefining their trademark sound while reinforcing their position as leaders in their field.
Recorded in Los Angeles with esteemed producer Matt Hyde [Slayer, Hatebreed], Atlas sets the standard in musical progression by pushing musical boundaries and drawing from a wider scope of influence. From heavy, technically advanced riffs and rapid fire blast beats, to haunting death growls combined with fervent vocals and symphonic melodies, Atlas ferocious mix of metal and hardcore reaches new horizons with songs such as “Dark Days”, “Old Ghost / New Regrets” and “The River”, all of which will have fans careening straight for the circle pit.
“Everything has been enhanced,” says Parkway vocalist Winston McCall. “People don’t have to kiss the old parts goodbye. When you think of change, you think of things being taken away, but there’s not a case here where anything has been taken away. This is just more on top.”
The new record is positioned to be the most highly anticipated heavy album of the year and follows 2010’s phenomenally successful Deep Blue, which debuted aat No. 39 in the U.S. on The Billboard 200, No. 2 in Australia, as well as reaching solid gold and winning the ARIA Award for “Best Hard Rock/Metal Album” and has since built steadfast momentum as a result of a groundswell of fan support in the U.S. Building on a record that was regarded as “not just a landmark album for themselves, [but] a milestone album for modern metal” [Metal Hammer],” Atlas cements Parkway Drive as the world’s most hardcore musical superpower.
“Atlas is a culmination of ten years,” says McCall. “Ten years of Parkway Drive, ten years of travel, ten years of being alive and watching our world spiral out of control. We’re not holding anything back, we’re not pulling any punches, and this world deserves nothing less.”
The Home Is For The Heartless DVD has already reached platinum status in Australia and is only available in the U.S. via the deluxe package. According to McCall, the DVD gives an additional insight into the album’s lyrical themes, which are closely related to exploration and discovery.
“Reading the lyrics to ‘Atlas’ after watching the DVD, I think you will have more of a sense of where we are coming from,” McCall reveals. “The album is called ‘Atlas’ because it’s a combination of the travelling we’ve done over the past year, while also playing on the idea of ‘Atlas’, who carried the weight of the world on his shoulders.”
When asked if he feels as though he and the band are anything like the mythological Greek titan, bearing the weight of the world on their shoulders, McCall replies: “I think everybody feels that way at one time or another. It’s a heavy place to live, and it’s a heavy time to be alive. Some people watch the DVD and go, ‘Man, it makes me jealous of your life.’ But I think with every expanse of your horizon, you go into another bubble of society where you are able to see that others in the world aren’t doing so good. It’s one of those things… the more your horizon expands, the more negative things you see. For that reason, there is a lot of stuff on this record that is more confrontational than anything we’ve written in the past.”
The track listing for the deluxe CD/DVD edition of “Atlas” is as follows:
01. Sparks
02. Old Ghosts / New Regrets
03. Dream Run
04. Wild Eyes
05. Dark Days
06. The River
07. Swing
08. The Slow Surrender
09. Atlas
10. Sleight Of Hand
11. Snake Oil And Holy Water
12. Blue And The Grey
Upcoming Shows:
Nov 13 013, Tilburg, Netherlands
Nov 14 Birmingham Ballroom, Birmingham, United Kingdom
Nov 15 Manchester Academy, Manchester, United Kingdom
Nov 16 Roundhouse London, United Kingdom
Nov 17 Roundhouse London, United Kingdom
Nov 18 Eurocam Media Center, Lint, Belgium
Nov 19 Grosse Freiheit 36, Hamburg, Germany
Nov 20 Sentrum Scene, Oslo, Norway
Nov 21 Debaser Medis, Stockholm, Sweden
Nov 22 Trädgår’n, Heden, Sweden
Nov 23 Huxleys Neue Welt, Berlin, Germany
Nov 24 Turbinenhalle, Oberhausen, Germany
Nov 25 Schlachthof Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden, Germany
Nov 26 Komplex 457, Zurich, Switzerland
Nov 27 Live Club, Trezzo Sull’adda Mi, Italy
Nov 28 Kesselhaus München, Munich, Germany
Dec 01 Event Werk, Dresden, Germany
Dec 12 Logan Campbell Centre, Auckland, New Zealand
Dec 13 High School, Byron Bay, Australia
Dec 14 Riverstage, Brisbane Qld, Australia
Dec 15 Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, Australia
Dec 16 UC Refectory, Canberra, Australia
Dec 17 Panthers, Newcastle, Australia
Dec 19 Challenge Stadium, Perth, Australia
Dec 20 Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide, Australia
Dec 22 Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia
Band members:
Winston McCall
Luke Kilpatrick
Jeff Ling
Ben Gordon
Jia O’Connor
Weblinks: Website / Twitter / Facebook
Related Articles:
‘Parkway Drive’ New Album Details Revealed, European Tour Dates [Sept. 2012]