Parkway Drive (AU)

About

Three number one albums on the Australian ARIA Charts is a solid achievement for any band, but for a metalcore act from Byron Bay it's something else entirely. Parkway Drive have spent two decades building one of the genre's most devoted international followings, going from a backyard rehearsal space called Parkway House to festival headline slots across Europe and North America. Loudwire put them in modern metalcore's 'Big Four' alongside Bring Me the Horizon, Architects and Underoath, which tells you roughly where they sit in the pecking order. Their sound has always leaned toward the heavier end of melodic metalcore, and each record has pushed things a bit further. Their debut Killing with a Smile was tracked in the US with Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz, a move that raised eyebrows at the time. Since then they've put out seven studio albums, with Ire, Reverence and Darker Still each landing at number one at home. The lineup has stayed remarkably stable since bassist Jia O'Connor joined in 2006.