Live Review: Parkway Drive – ‘Darker Still’ European Tour – Alexandra Palace, London

From headlining Bloodstock and Waken to not knowing if there was a future for the band after lockdown, Parkway Drive has certainly been on a wild ride over the past few years. Their return to London’s Alexandra Palace has been one that has been eagerly awaited for quite some time now and with Lorna Shore and While She Sleeps supporting, the show promises to be one for the history books! Here’s what went down.

‘To The Hellfire’ may be one of the best opening tracks for a live set – within the Deathcore scene – as it instantly got the crowd pumped up and ready for Lorna Shores’ opening set. The energy did not subside however as the mind unleashed ‘Of The Abyss’ before launching straight into ‘Sun//Eater’. A mix of orchestral backing tracks, melodic harmonies and demonic esc vocals had the Metalcore crowd enchanted with deathcore appeal. ‘Cursed To Die’ went down exceptionally well before the band closed out their set with the heavy-as-nails ‘Into The Earth’. Despite being an extremely different type of band from the others on the bill, Lorna Shore took their chance to entertain the London masses and seized it beautifully!

Sheffield’s own While She Sleeps would take to the stage next and once again, their opening song ‘Sleeps Society’ will forever be a phenomenal opening track. As soon as the speakers echoed the word “Welcome” the pit opened and the fans were ready. Wasting very little time by moving swiftly into ‘Anti-Social’ before upping the ante with ‘You Are All You Need’.

The set was very modern, Sleep heavy with the likes of ‘The Guilty Party’ and ‘I’ve Seen It All’ following suit. ‘Eye to Eye’ went down extremely well, which only made the rendition of ‘You Are We’ go that much harder in the pit. If you were expecting the usual slow moment from sleep, this was not the night for you. ‘Fakers Plague’ would come storming in after, with the assault being continued by ‘Silence Sleeps’. The final nail in the coffin was the energetic ‘Systematic’ before unveiling a banner stating While She Sleeps would be headlining the Iconic Alexandra Palace next September!

As the lights went out once more, fans knew Parkway Drive was up next. Walking out with torch bearers, the band readied themselves as Winston emerged from the centre of the stage to unleash ‘Glitch’ upon the London masses. This was quickly transitioned into ‘Prey’ as the heat from the flames rose before the first stand-out moment of the set came in the form of a mesmerizing rendition of ‘Carrion’. During this track, the fans’ voices echoed around the venue and over the band during this track’s chorus. It was one of those moments where I’m sure the band looked out to the crowd and thought “We’ve made it”.

Continuing down the set saw the likes of ‘Vice Grip’, ‘Dedicated’, and the new track ‘Ground Zero’ receive favourable reactions from the crowd. ‘Cemetery Bloom’ flowers beautifully into ‘The Void’, before’Karma’ reignited the pit into full gear, while a sea of crowd surfers became a tsunami for the security. ‘The Greatest Fear’ was a surprisingly loud affair for the crowd as the fans echoed every word right back at the band. Safe to say the new album has gone down a treat for Parkways London fans!

One of my favourite moments of the show had to be the string quartet joining the band for ‘Shadow Boxing’ and ‘Darker Still’. The duality created from the difference in tones never gets old and this will always be an amazing live moment as long as the band does it! ‘Bottom Feeder’ closed out the main portion of the set in an explosive way, leaving the fans eager for one last hit of the sweet stuff!

Long and behold, ‘Crushed’ would not only reignite the crowd but ignite the majority of the stage with it! Flames engulfed the venue and Parkway unleashed performances of Biblical proportions. Closing out the show was ‘Wild Eyes’. One last chance for the moshers to mosh and the singers to sing and I couldn’t think of a better song in the band’s catalogue to achieve this with!

Once Again, Parkway Drive has proven why they are one of the biggest names on the Metalcore scene at the moment. Their stage production is simply mesmerizing while their live performance sounds crisp and clear. Their choice in support of this show was exceptional and it made the entire event feel that much more special.