NME Australia cover stars Parkway Drive on ‘Stranger Things’, the grim influences on ‘Darker Still’ and more

nme.com:

Parkway Drive are the latest band to feature on the cover of NME Australia, talking about their seventh album, ‘Darker Still’, their near-breakup, male mental health and much more.For the story, we caught up with three members of the Aussie metal band – frontman Winston McCall, lead guitarist Jeff Ling and drummer Ben Gordon – to discuss the turbulent creation of the album, how group therapy helped them become their strongest selves, and the band’s uncertain future.In unpacking the minutiae of their story, we spent more than five hours with the band, riffing on everything from Metallica’s moment in Stranger Things, to running their own label in Australia (Parkway Records), to their UK tour kicking off at London’s Alexandra Palace today.

But with only so many pages in an issue of NME Australia – the new issue of which can be ordered here – there was a lot we simply couldn’t squeeze into our cover story.Check out the cover story here and read on for five bits we think are too good to stay on the cutting room floor…Winston McCall: “The writing process started when Australia was on fire, and ended when it was underwater – and in the middle of that was the closest we’ve come to a plague in our lifetime.

I guess Parkway’s work gets darker because [the world] gets darker – the concept of ‘Darker Still’, even just as a phrase in itself, very much mirrors what is actually happening in the world.“We’re born into a state of ignorance, and all we know is love and protection.

But the more that we’re exposed to the world – the more we’re taught about consequence, pain and loss – the more the darker aspects of reality start to creep in.