WINSTON MCCALL On PARKWAY DRIVE's Next Album: 'It's Probably The Most Intense-Sounding Music That We've Created In A Very Long Time'

In a new interview with the Everblack podcast, vocalist Winston McCall of Australia's PARKWAY DRIVE was asked about the possibility of new music from him and his bandmates. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah. That's what we're doing right now, writing new stuff… It's going real good. I'm very excited. It's gonna be a while. We're in the writing stage, but at this point in time it's a very, very awesome writing stage. It's nice when you do some stuff and you're, like, 'Oh, it's gonna make people's heads explode.' When you do something, you kind of sit there and you're, like, 'Oh, shit. Okay. Cool.' [It's a] nice feeling."

Asked if he and his PARKWAY DRIVE bandmates work on new music separately at home or if they meet up at their jams space to put ideas together, Winston said: "A bit of both. [We] do stuff at home and then we bring stuff together at our space and just chip away at it. And we're just rolling on momentum at the moment. While stuff's going, we just keep working. We've got a lot of stuff that we're working on, like lots of — I'm gonna say material, but by material I just mean melodies and ideas and concepts and riffs and all of that. And we're just smashing things out, and we just keep rolling, like, 'Cool. Awesome.' Just keep the momentum going. Once something's done, you move on to the next one... Lots of good stuff. Sweet."

Regarding the musical direction of the new PARKWAY DRIVE material, Winston said: "It's the most powerful PARKWAY has been in a... Thus far we want it to make an impact, and it's probably the most intense-sounding music that we've created in a very long time, which is great. [Laughs] There's some stuff where we're, like. 'All right. What's the fastest we've played? Let's play it faster than that.' [Laughs] 'Let's make it the heaviest thing we've done.'"

As for what else PARKWAY DRIVE has planned for the rest of 2026, Winston said: " Just writing music. That's it. Writing music. There's a few things here and there, but we're writing music. That's it. We wanted to have an album written quite some time ago. And the Opera House [career-defining Sydney Opera House show in June 2025, where PARKWAY DRIVE performed alongside a full symphonic orchestra for the one-night-only event] opportunity popped up, so that's gonna be coming. We've got the live Opera House album is gonna be dropping, as well as the film for it will be hitting cinemas. And the live album sounds absolutely mental — like fucking mental, man. I got the masters back for it a couple of days ago and I was, like, 'Holy shit.' So I'm very excited for people to hear that, 'cause for the people that weren't in the room at that point in time — even for the people that were in the room, who would've just been hit by shock and awe for two and a half hours, it's absolutely stunning. So I'm really, really proud of that. So that will be coming. And we're still working another album at the same time. So you're gonna get some new PARKWAY things."

Last November, McCall told Poland's Pełna Kulturka that "focusing on making new music is literally all of the [2026] for [PARKWAY DRIVE]. We've said, 'Okay, we're not gonna be touring much [in 2026] at all. It's all gonna be about create[ing] new music.' In the meantime, there's gonna be a live album from the Sydney Opera House and a movie coming out of that as well, so people can hear some interesting stuff that we've created with that. But brand new songs is definitely the next on the PARKWAY list."

In May 2025, PARKWAY DRIVE dropped a new track called "Sacred". The single marked the band's first release since PARKWAY DRIVE's critically acclaimed 2022 album "Darker Still", and arrived alongside a music video directed by Third Eye Visuals.

When "Sacred" was first made available, McCall said in a statement: "The mission statement for 'Sacred' is pretty damn simple. An anthemic wrecking ball of positive energy. Our lives and the way we exist in the world has been pushed further and further through the lenses and frames of negativity and hopelessness. Obsession with everything we lack, everything we hate, everyone we blame, everything that keeps us down. We sell the unique parts of us most precious just to buy back manufactured pieces of self in order that we may feel whole again. 'Sacred' is our identity. 'Sacred' is our time. Never lose sight and never lose hope."

In the summer of 2025, PARKWAY DRIVE co-headlined the "Summer Of Loud" 2025 tour across the U.S. and Canada, which saw them playing some of their biggest North American shows yet. PARKWAY DRIVE served as a co-headliner on "Summer Of Loud" tour alongside BEARTOOTH, I PREVAIL and KILLSWITCH ENGAGE.

PARKWAY DRIVE's 2025 concluded with the band's 20th-anniversary arena tour across Europe. Joining them on this momentous tour were fellow Australians THY ART IS MURDER and THE AMITY AFFLICTION. This massive arena run featured PARKWAY DRIVE's most ambitious production to date, performed with the passion and power that has defined PARKWAY DRIVE as one of the most important forces in modern metal.

PARKWAY DRIVE's concert at the Sydney Opera House will be part of the band's forthcoming feature film "Home", produced by Hype Republic and directed by Allan Hardy and Macario De Souza. The film is expected to be released in theaters in Australia later this year.

McCall told Rolling Stone Australia that recording the concert was a key factor in booking the iconic venue.

"We wanted to build something which was a reconceptualization of what PARKWAY DRIVE is in a place that's very iconically Australian and create a very iconically Australian show," he said. "It was all seated, black tie, played on grass with a full symphonic orchestra backing, a flipped-up set list from what you're used to, [and] everyone is in ball gowns and suits. It was the exact opposite of what you'd expect. And that was kind of what we wanted to do. We wanted to make something worthy of the moment."

He continued: "It was literally the loudest show that the Opera House has ever had before… You're confined to seats. There's no crowd surfers, there's no barrier."

Photo credit: Third Eye Visuals