The year 2002 saw the emergence of metalcore band Parkway Drive from Byron Bay, South Wales, Australia. In the eight years that the band has been together, they were able to release an EP, two albums, two split albums and a DVD.

Band History

Parkway Drive has a unique story to its name. The band name is lifted from a real street in Byron Bay. This street was the location of what was known as Parkway House, a real physical structure where the band members, Jeff Ling, Shaun Cash, Brett Versteeg, Winston McCall, Like Kilpatrick and Ben Gordon, converged and practiced. The six man band later collaborated with I Killed the Prom Queen to come up with the split EP “I Killed the Prom Queen/Parkway Drive.”

In the succeeding year, the band released “Don’t Close Your Eyes” which was their first EP with eight tracks. It was this first solo EP that eventually paved the way for the formation of a strong following for the band. A number of other bands, notably Hatebreed and Shadow Fall contributed to Parkway Drive’s fan base expansion after having performed in the same events.

In 2005, the band experienced a notable development after having traveled to the US to start work on their very first album. The album was released under the title “Killing with a Smile” and was subsequently promoted by the group through a tour. After a year, the group signed up with Epitaph Records and it was then that their album made it to US shores. It was also at this point though that changes loomed in for the band as bassist Shaun Cash left for personal reasons.

The other bass player, Brett Versteeg left as well. The band was still able to move on when the band’s long-time friend Jia “Pie” O’Connor took over the bass player role. More tours followed, fueling more popularity amongst Australian metal fans and more tour merch sales. The “Don’t Close Your Eyes” EP was also re-released containing tracks from their split EP and earlier tracks present in the Byron Bay Hardcore compilation. Their second Parkway Drive album titled “Horizons” also met critical praise.

Studio Albums Released

It was “Killing with a Smile,” the band’s first album that really gave them their first big international break when it was released in the US in 2006. One contributory factor to its success is its producer, Adam Dutkiewicz, who is popularly associated with Killswitch Engage.

October 2007 saw the release of their second album called “Horizons.” Fans highly anticipated the release since they played a few songs that were going to be in the album live. Both critics and fans enjoyed the album, making its way to number six on the ARIA Charters. It is now the bestselling release in the band’s history and has reached multi-platinum status in Europe.

A new Parkway Drive album is reported to be under the pipelines to soon become a part of the Parkway Drive discography. Winston McCall offers some insight into it calling it the band’s “rawest and heaviest record.” More clues to their next release can be found in their blog and in MySpace. Final word on the album’s title has not been given but its expected release will be before June 2010 after the conclusion of the band’s European Tour.