Reverence arrives as the follow-up to 2015’s Ire—Parkway Drive’s most successful album to date and a major force in boosting their ever-growing worldwide following. Like each album released since the band formed in 2002, Ire has been certified gold in their homeland; it also helped fuel their recent dominance at European festivals and won critical praise from outlets like Kerrang (who hailed Ire as a “fascinating album”). But while Ire brought Parkway Drive’s uncompromising artistry to bold new levels, Reverence pushes their creative ambition even further.

Not only Parkway Drive’s most sonically adventurous album so far, Reverence is also their most personal. With its barrage of heart-shredding anthems, the album was closely informed by a series of tragedies the band’s endured over the past few years, including the untimely loss of two loved ones. “We realized how short and fragile life could be,” says McCall. “We took stock of what we had and realized what actually mattered. What we went through was horrendous.”

Produced by long-time Parkway Drive sound engineer George Hadjichristou and recorded at All Buttons In Recording Studio in Ottawa, Reverence both expands the band’s sonic palette and offers up their most devastating songs yet.

In reflecting on the making of Reverence, Parkway Drive point out that using heartbreak as creative fuel has ultimately had a life-changing impact on the band. “This time there are triumphs that come from swinging a sledgehammer and dealing with real raw emotion,” says McCall. “I hope Reverence is the kind of album that redefines what people expect of us, in the sense that you can now expect the unexpected. This time around we’ve taken more risks, and I don’t think we’ve ever sounded more interesting.”