Killing With A Smile

About

For its original physical release, <i>Killing with A Smile</i>’s booklet folded out to visually explain the ambiguous cover art of a man slumped against a wall in the street. Four photographs later and it’s revealed that said man was shot by the overzealous partner of a woman who simply smiled at him. Hence the album’s title—but would its galloping mid-2000s metalcore break down the toxicity of unchecked possessivene, or infuse its chugging riffs with rueful indignation? Parkway Drive’s debut 2005 record errs towards the latter, at its most transparent during the blaring upset of “Romance Is Dead”: “She said goodbye/So cry me a fucking river, bitch/You wouldn’t know love if it crushed your fucking chest.” Ever-darkening thoughts are entertained on “Picture Perfect, Pathetic” by vocalist Winston McCall: “I would so love to hang you/You’re like a shotgun, baby, pointed at my head/And those lips are suicide, but I just want to see you dead.” .

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

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