REVIEW: Parkway Drive - Killing With A Smile - Forum, Melbourne
Written by: Rhys Carman
Killing with a Smile or Horizons?
That’s the question.
Last night at the Forum, Parkway Drive turned the clock back 20 years.
As a 35-year-old millennial who first heard Smoke ’Em If Ya Got ’Em and became completely fucking addicted to Parkway, this was about as nostalgic as a metal gig gets.
The Forum was absolutely packed. Mostly tough-looking metal dudes from all over Victoria, reliving their teenage years, buying merch, throwing themselves into mosh pits and having way too much fun for a Sunday night when everyone had work the next morning.
And that’s what made it so good.
No massive production. No ridiculous pyro. No giant stadium light show. Just Parkway Drive, their two iconic records, and a room full of people who grew up with this music.
Hearing songs that some of us first heard at places like the Bendigo Strathdale Community Centre in the early 2000s, then hearing them again decades later in a packed Forum, with the band from Byron Bay standing metres away, was fucking wild.
There was something pretty special about watching everyone look after each other in the pits while simultaneously trying to knock each other’s heads off.
And this is only night one.
Two albums. Cover to cover.
So the real question is: which one wins?
Killing with a Smile or Horizons?
Which record means more to you?
And, more importantly, which songs are the absolute fucking bangers?
Tell me where you were when you first heard Parkway Drive.
Parkway Drive - Killing Horizons Australian Tour 2026
Sat 1 Aug 2026 – Metro City – Perth, WA
Sun 2 Aug 2026 – Metro City – Perth, WA
Tue 4 Aug 2026 – Hindley St Music Hall – Adelaide, SA
Wed 5 Aug 2026 – Hindley St Music Hall – Adelaide, SA
Sun 9 Aug 2026 – Forum – Melbourne, VIC
Mon 10 Aug 2026 – Forum – Melbourne, VIC
Wed 12 Aug 2026 – Enmore Theatre – Sydney, NSW
Thu 13 Aug 2026 – Enmore Theatre – Sydney, NSW
Sat 15 Aug 2026 – Fortitude Music Hall – Brisbane, QLD
Sun 16 Aug 2026 – Fortitude Music Hall – Brisbane, QLD
Fri 21 Aug 2026 – Enmore Theatre – Sydney, NSW
Sat 22 Aug 2026 – Enmore Theatre – Sydney, NSW
Mon 24 Aug 2026 – Forum – Melbourne, VIC
Tue 25 Aug 2026 – Forum – Melbourne, VIC
