BYRON Bay's Parkway Drive made Resist Records history last week then the band's debut album Killing With a Smile entered the national ARIA chart at number 39.
It is the first time one of the respected hardcore label's acts has impacted the commercial chart.
``It's pretty much unheard of for a heavy independent band,'' guitarist Luke Kilpatrick said.
``We weren't expecting it at all but once the distributors shipped out so many copies we started to say, `Well it might be bigger than we thought'.
``We always thought it would sell pretty well but not as well as it has. But it makes me feel good. You know, people like the music. We put a lot of hard work in and it has paid off.'' Formed in the sleepy coastal town of Byron Bay in 2003, Parkway Drive has had a lucky ride.
Bursting from the town's surprisingly active hardcore scene, the band jumped at the chance when offered to split an EP with Adelaide outfit I Killed The Prom Queen. From there the band captured the attention of listeners outside of Byron Bay and went on to score an impressive list of shows supporting heavyweights such as Hatebreed, In Flames and Bleeding Through. ``We haven't really pushed anything.
``It has sort of just fallen into place. We were approached to sign to Resist Records and it just all happened without us trying too hard really.'' In May this year the band flew to the US to record its debut album with the production skills of Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz who was eager to work with the group after hearing their demos.
Blending the intricate riffs and melodies of metal with the conviction, emotion and breakdowns of hardcore, the album was complete are almost three weeks at Zing Studio in Massachusetts.
``We hadn't really heard anything that had been produced over here that was to the standard we wanted it to sound like so we got hold of a few guys and asked if they were interested.
``Adam was interested and it was great to work with a producer who knows what he's doing.
He's a genius musically so having that input helps a lot.'' Parkway Drive have embarked on their first major headline tour and will play two shows at the Cambridge Hotel on Friday (over 18s) and Saturday (all ages).
Tickets are on sale now at the venue.
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