Ire (album)

Promotion and release

Ire was announced on 8 June 2015, when the first song from the album, "Vice Grip", was released, accompanied by a music video. On 24 August, Parkway Drive released a second song, "Crushed", also accompanied by a video. On 14 September, the band released a third song, "The Sound of Violence". On 20 September, the album was streamed online in its entirety.

Throughout 2015, the band headlined tours across Australia and the United States in support of the album. In May 2016, they supported A Day to Remember on their Just Some Shows tour of the U.S. On July 15, the band released a Deluxe Edition of the album, with 2 new tracks and a remix of the song "A Deathless Song" with guest vocals by Tonight Alive's Jenna McDougall.

Reception, musical style and themes

Ire marks a change from the style established on the band's previous records. In an interview with Music Feeds, frontman Winston McCall stated: "...in the past ... [when] we took the influence we had and then we put it into the context of what the Parkway Drive formula was, then that influence got mixed or buried or lost amongst the other stuff. This time around when any influence or unorthodox idea came about we simply ran with it in its whole form and tried to form a concept around that, rather than try to squash it into the pre-existing formula. That became basically the conceptual approach for making this entire record. ... When you’re playing the same style of riff, the same drumming, the same vocals and same breakdowns for ten years, what point is there in people listening to your new record or even recording one if it sounds the exact same as the last one?"

The album has been described as moving "away from the shackles of 'metalcore'", as well as representing a "refreshing take on metalcore" and being "decidedly more metal than metal-core on the whole" and reminiscent of '80s metal. Connor McKenzie of Rip It Up calls Rage Against the Machine an influence on the album's direction, both musically and lyrically, with the album being centred thematically around anger as an appropriate reaction to the state of human society. Jaymz Clements of Rolling Stone Australia stated that "the epic sweep of lead single "Vice Grip", the piano-led ponderous stomp of "Writings on the Wall" and the shiny bounce of "Vicious" ... showcase a muscular power-metal edge to [Parkway Drive]." Brenton Harris of Music Feeds described "Destroyer" as showcasing "Jeff Ling and Luke Kilpatrick's harmonised classic metal riffs clashing against a ferocious backdrop", said that "Dying To Believe"'s "chaotic juxtaposition of death-metal rhythmic patterns in the verses and pit-call inciting half-time chorus hit like a napalm bomb ..., simultaneously calling to mind Lamb of God, Slayer and Slipknot" and highlighted the "nu-metal tinged stomp of 'Writings on the Wall' ... which integrates spoken-word vocals, piano and classical instrumentation".

The album was included at number 21 on Rock Sound's top 50 releases of 2015 list.

Touring

Parkway Drive have announced they will be touring Australia, North America and Europe (and doing one show in Auckland) in support of Ire. On the Australian leg of the tour, they will be supported by Thy Art Is Murder, Memphis May Fire and the Word Alive. On the NA leg, they will be supported by Miss May I, Thy Art Is Murder and In Hearts Wake. On the European leg, they will supported by Bury Tomorrow in the United Kingdom and Architects in the rest of Europe, alongside Thy Art Is Murder. Suicide Silence was originally supposed to appear on the Australian leg in place of Thy Art Is Murder, but they dropped to support Korn on their 20th anniversary tour.