POLARIS | The Death Of Me | Album Review

Young bands are the ones that deserve more attention than more established bands. In many cases, if a young band shows potential for the future, it's never a good idea to ignore them and keep focusing on what's popular, because that new band may not be around for very long if you have that kind of ignorance. Polaris is an example of a band you shouldn't ignore. Hailing from Australia, the metalcore band has arrived with their sophomore album "The Death Of Me". Polaris first came to prominence in 2017 with "The Mortal Coil". Since then, Polaris has slowly gained traction as an up and coming metalcore acts to be on the lookout for. So, going into "The Death Of Me", there is a lot of lofty anticipation as to if the band is here to stay or not. Polaris is a band that focuses on every minute detail in order for their brand of metalcore music to deliver. In the band's own words: "The security we feel is that we know we wouldn't put something out if it didn't feel up to the standard that we wanted to create. We're super critical of everything we do. There's a lot of attention to detail as a band. It's not just one person writing it. It's very collaborative". Every band wants to feel good about their music and what they create, regardless if the end result connects with people or not. It's not very often where a band takes that extra mile in order to make sure every element is fleshed out and delivers at just the right moment, and that makes Polaris a very special band in a scene that has its flaws, with bands that don't accel quite as much. Polaris is one of the exceptions to the rule.

"The Death Of Me" was preceded by many singles, the first two being "Masochist" and "Hypermania". "Masochist" was put out in November of last year and it presented a lot of metalcore fans with something unique. With my first couple listens to this song, I wasn't immediately sold on it. The chorus does have a very simple melody to it which didn't really hook me at first. After listening to this song more and especially after listening to the whole album, I appreciate this song a lot more than I previously did. "Masochist" is a more radio-friendly song with a heavy amount of screamed vocals with only the chorus featuring singing vocals, and the band does a great job at going back and forth between the two styles. The second half of this song really accels with an excellent bridge with lead vocalist Jamie Hails really letting everything out. The followup single, "Hypermania", is even better than "Masochist" in my opinion. It's a short song, clocking in at over two and a half minutes, but the song explodes at a drop of a hat with Hails' aggressive vocal delivery and it's a song that is meant to be played loud until the speakers blow out. Looking at these two singles, you may notice a little bit of Architects in this band's sound as Hails does sound a bit like Sam Carter especially on songs like "Hypermania", but both singles are still drenched in the identity of Polaris and really set the tone for the rest of this ten track album. It's the type of setup that is required in order to build up heavy anticipation for the entirety of the record.

Looking at this album as far as its style is concerned, this is basically metalcore that borderline on progressive metalcore in some areas, so the Architects comparison is fitting. Polaris still has their own characteristics as a band that are honed to perfection, especially on this album. The opening track "Pray For Rain" starts everything off in an atmospheric and haunting way with Hails' vocal delivery being absolutely stellar before it leads into aggressive metalcore riffs that will easily rank among the best of the year. The flow in this song and many others is something else that's impressive, as many of the songs on "The Death Of Me" leave you wishing that they were longer, and that is a compliment. Whether it be aggressive tracks like "Landmine" and "Creatures Of Habit", or songs that fall right in the middle like "Vagabond" and "Above My Head", the album keeps you engaged throughout and each song feels like it is progressively getting better and better. The songwriting is phenomenal on this entire album, particularly in tracks like "Pray For Rain", "Vagabond", "The Descent", and "Above My Head", and it's an example of Polaris putting that attention to detail in their music. Jamie Hails gives an amazing performance on each and every one of these songs, bringing in that raw and angry delivery, while bassist Jake Steinhauser's clean vocal output adds a lot dynamically to several tracks. This is true in tracks like "Martyr (Waves)" and "All Of This Is Fleeting" where the clean vocals are as equally prominent as the screamed vocals. On top of all of that, the musicianship is just as great, and there are even solos on a couple tracks that take everything one step further. Every single song feels like it has something to offer. Every moment feels like it's worth your time and Polaris went above and beyond in their attempts to make their second album a step above their debut, and they easily succeeded.

I'm literally reaching to try and find a complaint about this album, and I can't find any. Maybe that when these songs and the album as a whole are over, you wish there was more than just what made it to the final cut, but that's not really a flaw of the album. It is just a desire for more music that's warranted, especially after all of these 10 songs are excellent. Sophomore albums are a make or break moment for many bands, almost as much as the debut album. The debut can open the door to who you are as a band and what style you want to play, but it's really the sophomore album that defines whether you're here to stay as a unique entity or just another face in the crowd. There are bands, especially in metalcore, that go the faceless route but Polaris has proven with their second album that they are not going to be one of them. "The Death Of Me" is the definitive example of a sophomore record that isn't simply just an improvement over an already great debut. It's an album that puts them right in the big leagues as far as their subgenre goes. Not one song on this album is weak or underwhelming, and everything connects with each other, and that proves that Polaris will be one of the genre's biggest bands in a few years. And the material on this album is a big reason why that is the case. Overall, "The Death Of Me" is one of the best sophomore projects I've heard in years. If you're a fan of Architects or other bands like them, you are sorely missing out on this album if you do not give it a try. This album's phenomenal material is just dying to be heard by as many metalcore fans as possible.

RATING: 10/10

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