Atlas

The ferocity of Parkway Drive’s fourth studio album can be partially credited to the Australian metalcore quintet having traveled to Los Angeles, where Slayer and Hatebreed producer Matt Hyde sat in the mixing chair. But as the opening attack of Atlas affirms, the band deliberately made something that’s darker and harder than ever before. Don’t let the atmospheric synthesizers and acoustic finger-picking of the introductory “Sparks” fool you. After it sets a foreboding tone, “Old Ghosts/New Regrets” explodes with snarling guitars, ear-boxing blast-beats, ham-fisted breakdowns and Winston McCall’s most unrestrained vocal performance to date. “Dream Run” is just as feral in attack. It begins with a lo-fi production, pulling the listener in closely before launching a berserker attack on the eardrums. And though the melodies are just as gargantuan as all other elements; Hyde’s exercise in restraint builds a palpable tension here and throughout, making Atlas one of the most sophisticated albums to grace the metalcore genre. “Dark Days” paints a dystopian future on par with Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.