Sydney metalcore favourites Polaris had a big task in producing a follow-up to their debut album, The Mortal Coil.
The band's first album dropped in 2017 to a wealth of praise from fans and critics alike and shortly after they were on the road with Parkway Drive, winning over crowd across the country on the Horizons anniversary tour.
Relentless touring meant writing and recording became harder, but, despite the pressures of time and expectations, the local outfit rose to the occasion, producing a second album that not only lives up the hype but sees them explore new territory.
Here's why The Death Of Me is The Music's Album Of The Week.
What they're saying...
Brendan Crabb got the down-low from Polaris frontman Jamie Hails on the band’s highly anticipated new LP. Check out snippets of their chat below and read the full story here.
A shock to the system…
“It's been a bit of a rollercoaster, and every tour and show we've played and have been playing just keeps getting bigger. The reactions at all these shows, the responses are getting bigger, better and louder. It's been really awesome to see, and it's taken us by surprise. We never thought we would be doing the things that we have been doing, and the things that we've accomplished we never thought were going to be a thing for us. Here we are a couple of years later and we've already accomplished so much in such a short amount of time.”
On their style of metalcore…
I feel that we're in a genre of music that has been looked at [as] kind of done and dusted thousands of times over the years. But for some reason, people seem to be viewing us as a very fresh, new kind of wave of that kind of style of music, which is awesome, because it's working and it's going well for us.”
Dealing with pressure…
“We were having such a busy touring schedule that writing and recording the record were pretty much sandwiched in between a lot of different tours. When the time we had allocated to get the record recorded wasn't [enough to have it] finished in that time, then there was a lot of stress beyond that to finish writing the record while we were on tour, and then come back home and record it in the very little time that we were home. So that didn't help at all, and added a lot more stress and pressure.
They’re only just getting started…
“There's a lot of moments where we take a step back and [are] just like, 'Wow, look what we've done, and look at what we're still doing and pushing to be doing.' We've been enjoying the rollercoaster while it's going, but [we're] also pushing it to keep seeing how far we can go, how high we can go, how far can we push this band.”
What we're saying...
★★★★
Review by Rod Whitfield. Read more here...
"There is one major factor that makes Sydney five-piece Polaris distinct from many of their peers in an extraordinarily healthy scene. Yes, the songs on this, their follow-up to 2017’s highly successful debut The Mortal Coil, are very strong, memorable and dynamic (especially the short, ultra-sharp Hypermania and the inspirational Martyr (Waves)), the musicianship is tight and the production is punchy as hell.
"However, this is often the case, and there are a lot of bands out there, in Australia and across the globe, mining this type of musical terrain. And many of them doing it extremely well. What sets Polaris apart is their sheer commitment to the cause. You can tell they’ve given their absolute all and bled themselves dry in the creation and performance of this record. It veritably drips from every musical pore.
"All of this is embodied in vocalist Jamie Hails, who belts out his impassioned vocals as if his very life depends upon it, from the throat-shredding screams to the soaring cleans. That said, all five players in this band deliver their parts with a passion that is a joy to behold. The Aussie metalcore/post-hardcore scene continues to go from strength to even greater strength, and Polaris are a major part of that."
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