Live Review: Parkway Drive/Killswitch Engage/Thy Art Is Murder at the Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff

Photo by Kane Hibberd

It’s no secret at this point that Parkway Drive are one of modern metal’s finest live acts. They’ve honed their craft over the last few years in particular to create a spectacular show that promises something bigger, better, and hotter every time. Fresh off the release of their sixth album (the built-for-arenas Reverence) last year, the band have just finished up the UK leg of their tour of Europe with Thy Art Is Murder and Killswitch Engage, and their show in Cardiff on Friday was something truly special.

Opening the show at a 5,000 cap venue when you’re heavier than a black hole full of cement might sound a substantial challenge to most bands. Thy Art Is Murder (8.5/10) are not “most bands”. It’s clear that the deathcore legends share a good portion of their fanbase with their Aussie brothers in PWD, as a good half of the Motorpoint Arena is filled by 7:15. Thy Art waste absolutely no time in whipping up chaos in the most brutal way possible; bookending the set with ragers from their most recent release, 2017’s Dear Desolation, and slotting live set staples The Purest Strain of Hate, Holy War, and Reign of Darkness in between. The way CJ McMahon orchestrates the crowd simply serves as a reminder as to why he has become one of this generation’s most iconic heavy vocalists. He’s the ringmaster of a circus consisting entirely of blast beats and disgusting breakdowns, and the spectacle leaves the Cardiff crowd breathless and utterly adrenalised.  

This is the part of the review in which I have all my metalcore street cred stripped away by admitting that I’ve never really been into Killswitch Engage (8/10). I know I should go through their discography and get educated, and their performance at this show does a grand job of convincing me to do exactly that. A good three quarters of the crowd knows every word to every song, which makes it feel all the more special when they smash through modern classics like My Curse and The End of Heartache in the midst of some of their newer stuff (which is also fantastic live). Jesse Leach’s stage presence is utterly undeniable, and guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz’s hilariously immature antics balance Leach’s more down-to-earth persona out perfectly. You can see why this band has so much longevity.

If you haven’t seen Parkway Drive (9.5/10) live before, I’d encourage you to try and find a way to do so as soon as possible. I’m hard-pressed to think of a band on as hot a streak as they are right now; blazing a trail for current-day metal bands to get to that Download-headliner level in the not-so-distant future.

In Cardiff, Parkway begin their set being lead to the stage through the crowd by hooded men carrying flaming torches. It’s soundtracked by an eerie medley of snippets from Reverence, a choice which sends anticipation like a static shock through the increasingly fervent fans down the front. With the spotlight on frontman Winston McCall, Wishing Wells makes for an incredible opener - when that initial “until I’m done” breakdown hits, anarchy is let loose upon the Motorpoint, and it doesn’t really let up for the next hour and a half. The musicianship from each member of the band is practically flawless all the way through, as they cycle through banger after banger with effortless showmanship. The highlights are all undoubtedly taken from the band’s latest albums, Ire and Reverence, upon which they took a hard-rock oriented left turn and subsequently boosted their palatability with a more mainstream crowd. Tracks like Prey, Crushed, Absolute Power, and set closer Bottom Feeder all stand out as Parkway Drive’s absolute finest, in comparison to Karma and Wild Eyes, which surprisingly come across as slightly weaker and less exciting (despite their increased heaviness). Slower songs such as Cemetery Bloom and The Colour of Leaving also make a lot more sense in a live environment, not only giving the crowd some much-needed respite, but also lending a sense of freshness and versatility to the performance whilst maintaining an unstoppable level of power.

It’d be remiss to not talk about how much the stage production adds to the whole experience at a PWD show. There are raising platforms that carry the guitarists upwards during a solo (or the wonderful string ensemble during Shadow Boxing); there’s constant flamethrowing pyro, even from the sound desk; at one point Winston lights a Molotov cocktail and launches it toward the backdrop, setting the stage completely alight. It’s as much a firework display as it is a metal concert, and it’s staggering to watch. Everything is extremely well thought-out, and it showcases a band almost transcendent of their years (and popularity). I’ve seen many, many Reading Festival headline sets which weren’t even half as impressive as what Parkway Drive are doing on their current tour.  

You can catch Parkway Drive (and I suggest you do) on the remainder of their European tour at the following dates in February:

• 6^th - Amsterdam AFAS Live
• 8^th - Koln Palladium
• 11^th - Stuttgart Schleyerhalle
• 12^th - Zurich Halle 672
• 13^th - Milan Alcatraz
• 15^th - Munich Zenith
• 17^th - Vienna Gasometer
• 18^th - Prague Forum Karlin

And can catch them this summer in the UK headlining Bloodstock Festival, with tickets available here.