Which is an achievement in itself, considering that they had no ‘formal’ marketing strategy.

“Exactly,” McCall agrees. “All we had was a ‘myspace’. There must be some music marketing gurus feeling the need to justify their existence right now.”

Speaking of myspace, visit Parkway Drive’s page on the site and you’ll notice some incredible stats: three-and-a-half million song plays, two-and-three-quarter million page views and over a hundred and five thousand fans.

To put that in perspective, Silverchair lag well behind them behind on two of those three stats and just beat them on the third, slick marketing team and all. That must make McCall a firm believer in the ‘power of the people’?

“Oh, definitely,” he says. “That just goes to show what a loyal fanbase can do. If you put the music out there, the fans will support it. They don’t let mainstream sales pitches determine their musical taste.”

As far as musical tastes go, Parkway Drive has achieved that rare sound that defies genres, attracting both metal and hardcore fans. It must feel good to be able to cross what is usually an unbreakable line musically?

“It’s a great feeling,” says McCall. “We’re basically hardcore kids playing metal music, and those styles can be difficult to mix. Kids can tell the difference and to be able to cross those boundaries and have our music accepted, to see the fans mixing and having fun, that feels really good.”

So how are the fans reacting to the new music?

“So often, crowds want to hear your old music because that’s what they know,” explains McCall. “They’ll be yelling for some tune you played three years ago while you’re trying to get them to enjoy your new stuff, but this album has been a pleasant surprise. The crowds are actually calling for the new stuff and they’re loving it.

By ‘crowds’, McCall means the fans they have played for in America, Japan and Europe as well as Australia. Having already toured extensively internationally, Parkway Drive is currently touring the US for the second time, followed by a second European tour in April and May.

So where are the craziest crowds?

“Actually, Australians are pretty crazy,” McCall laughs. “On our last Australian tour, the riot squad got called to our Brisbane show, it was beyond chaos, and it was the first night of the tour! It was just an overreaction, but still, it made us wonder what we were in for. Our home turf always goes off!”

So does he have a personal highlight so far?

“Oh, the whole thing is a highlight! I’m doing what I love, touring the world with a bunch of mates and playing music, and we’ve had so much support and encouragement.”

But, world touring aside, there’s no place like home for the perpetually-busy but uncomplaining McCall.

“Most people love the idea of travelling, but my idea of a holiday is to be at home, just hanging out with my girlfriend and not living in a hotel room or travelling in a smelly van” he says.

“We’ve played an average of one show every two days in 2006 and 2007, so my time at home is rare. I just like to be able to cook my own food, do my own laundry and sleep in my own bed.”

McCall is also part of the ‘Straight Edge’ movement, is committed to taking care of himself and sticking to his values, including living a life free from alcohol and drug use.

“Straight Edge is about lifestyle choices and doing what is right for you, and, while it works for me, I’d never dream of forcing my opinions on anyone else,” he asserts.

“Straight Edge to me means that I alone am responsible for all of my actions. No crutches. No excuses. If I make a mistake I only have myself to blame. For me, it’s a more focused way of living and I always have 100% control of what I do.”

And that dedication is paying off, with the songs on Horizons being billed as ‘heavier, faster and more precise’ than their debut offering ‘Killing with a Smile’. So are they closer to the Parkway Drive ideal sound?

“Certainly we trimmed the fat, so to speak,” McCall says. “We’ve always played music the way we wanted to play it, and we’ve never compromised, but this time we took a close look and asked “What would we like to change?” We took every word and every note to its maximum capacity".

So how do they plan to top that?

“More touring!” McCall says cheerfully. “We’re acutely aware that we haven’t played for our home crowds as much as we would have liked to, so another Australian tour is on the cards for 2008.

"We’re also tossing around the idea of a DVD. We’ve been filming everything we’ve done from day one, so it would be great to make a movie out of that. It may not get off the ground but we’d like to look into it.

“After that, another album, providing we’re still sane!”

I have a feeling they will be.