Parkway Drive at Irving Plaza

Parkway Drive is a metalcore band from Australia formed in 2002 that has released four albums, including the latest, Atlas, as well as two DVDs, an EP, and two split albums. The band won Australia’s ARIA Award for Best Hard Rock and Metal Album and gained a considerable American following through its participation in the summer Warped festivals.

At Irving Plaza tonight, Parkway Drive showed itself to be a crunching heavy metal superpower, poised for world domination. Vocalist Winston McCall growled and screamed from the gut, while the musicians charged forth with precise and intense hardcore punk breakdowns, chunky riffs and rapid fire double-kick beats. Meanwhile, the responsive audience showed its allegiance to the band, chanting song requests in unison. The fans’ wall-to-wall moshing on the main floor was so extreme that, for the first time ever, I retreated to the V.I.P. balcony for safety.