Review Summary: After a few long years of wait, the album that is as raw and organic as you can get is released and boy is it going to send shivers down your spine.
Parkway Drive finally return to the music scene with their third album release titled 'Deep Blue'. After three years of touring and promotion of their sophomore album 'Horizons', the album that countless fans have been waiting for is finally out. Winston describes 'Deep Blue' as their rawest and heaviest record to date and an album that has a more organic and original sound to it. He also describes the narrative behind the album. “It is basically about the search for truth in a world that seems to be devoid of that, the story is told through the eyes of a man who wakes up and realises that his life is a lie and nothing he believes in is real. So he tries to find the truth within himself and his journey takes him to the bottom of the ocean and back again.
As I begin to delve into the album, the first track 'Samsara' sends chills down my spine. Surprisingly a slow melodic breakdown at the end of the track just leaves me going 'wow that was unexpected'. While the intro track may have been a bit slow and quiet, this is all but forgotten with the bone crunching song 'Unrest' which starts off with a few sweet opening guitar riffs and ends in one of the best breakdowns from the album. 'Sleepwalker' has a nice progression and one of those songs that make you pumped.
'Wreckage' starts of with a simple progressive guitar riff and I believe it is one of the best tracks of this entire album. Their are three distinitive guitar riffs in the song and the ending guitar part leaves me wanting more from this track. So with a bunch of great songs, I fall into a track which I just find has no real depth to it. To me 'Deadweight' has a really good introduction but at times feels repetitive and at times doesn't have a coherent progression to it at all. While a bad taste may be in my mouth 'Alone' one of the slowest and in fact the most melodic song of the album is surprisingly good. The ending guitar solo reminds me of the song 'Horizons' from their previous album and is really a great ending to the song. However as 'Alone' finishes 'Pressures' feels like a very lackluster song and much like 'Deadweight' from before, it feels like it doesn't flow well.
Then the intensity of the album is risen to a high with 'Deliver Me' with one of the best introductions of the whole song, it really is catchy and the song has no doubt the best breakdown of the album. The 'torn in two' part made me really go 'wow this is awesome' as it feels as raw and heavy as you can get. 'Karma' then starts with the best drumming of the whole album and ends progressively well. The best song of the album 'Home Is For The Heartless' then plays and you can just tell it's going to be a big hit for the fans. In my opinion, it's like the 'Carrion' of this album. It has a catchy chorus and one of the best tunes to really mosh out to in a concert. 'Hollow' and 'Leviathan I' are also great tracks but the ending track 'Set To Destroy' really doesn't go well with me. It feels short (it really is short) and doesn't have any melodic flow to it and feels tacked on.
Parkway Drive have really delivered the album that I have been waiting for 3 years. Winston certainly keeps his word that 'Deep Blue' is one of the most rawest and heaviest albums by them and no doubt this will be an album that I will be listening to for years to come. It may not have the technical aspect of 'Horizons' (which I must note is better) but it certainly has simple riffs and enough edge to keep me hooked.
Thanks for reading - Luminous.
