Review
836. The number of days between “The Mortal Coil” and “The Death Of Me”. Just over 2 years. A short and long period at the same time. An eternity for Polaris. Nothing will ever be the same for them again. Looking for the best metalcore album of the year 2020? Maybe it’s already out!
We have waited a long time for this new album from the Australians. Not because we were bored with Lucid or The Remedy live, but because we were looking forward to hearing what other gems this young band might write. On November 6, 2019, Polaris gave us the best answer ever by unveiling their new single Masochist, a new powerhouse hit that would hit the spot on first listen. Exactly 2 years after the release of their first record, “The Mortal Coil”. Not satisfied for a penny, the Aussies answered our calls by unveiling a second single 2 months later, Hypermania. A track with surgical precision and a devastating groove. With another novelty and not the least: it’s the first track of the band without the presence of vocal parts provided by the band’s bassist, Jack. Instead, it’s his first studio screams. It’s an explosive result that also hit the spot on the first listen. But we are greedy and they know it: on February 13th, the day before Valentine’s Day, the quintet released a third single called Landmine. A real war machine with a few riffs that would have been good on the last SlipKnot record. And, of course, the track hit the spot on the first listen.
Before discovering the album, we already knew 3 of the 10 tracks on the track-list. Excitement? Of course. Fear? A little. But why? Because one of the few criticisms that could be made of Polaris’ first opus was that it didn’t last. The originality of the band, its madness, its groove and its identity faded a bit as we approached the last track. Based on this fact but also on what we have already seen with many other bands, we could ask ourselves if these 3 monstrous singles were not the best elements of “The Death Of Me” and that the rest would be far below!
We had a slight doubt when we first listened to Pray For Rain – where we can see a slight Architects influence but which metalcore band is not influenced by this band in 2020? – but fortunately, our fears quickly faded away to leave room for our excitement (and our desire to mosher)! The 3 singles occupy tracks 2, 3 and 4 of the album, so we have to go to the fifth track to discover what the Australians were still hiding from us.
And overall, we got slap after slap. Creatures Of Habit is the track that blew us away the most: its chorus taken up by Jamie and Jack without a clear voice, the few well thought-out drum-bass passages, a sustained rhythm until the end with a 5 star final riff. A real nugget that belongs on the same level as the first 3 singles! Speaking of big riffs, the end of All Of This Feeling will be the right moment to launch a big family wall of death live!
The place of a second singer to provide clear vocals is a point that generally raises its share of criticism. And it must be admitted that some bands abuse it a bit (The Amity Affliction to take an Australian example). Success, the will to keep climbing, possible pressure from labels and managers, the desire to reach a larger audience: the addition of clear vocals is not always well seen for all these reasons. Fortunately, Polaris have not taken this step. Above My Head has a style closer to We Came As Romans than to Polaris themselves but it’s still very catchy and catchy. Vagabond and especially Martyr are the tracks where Jack’s voice is the most present: which is a shame, without being bad.
In less than 40 minutes, Polaris have confirmed all the good things we thought about them. Even if some inspirations such as Architects or Polaris can be heard on some tracks, it would be quibbling over details as the band has found an identity of its own, be it in the pure composition or the production of these, now, two albums. And this is not a luxury given to everyone!
836. The number of days between “The Mortal Coil” and “The Death Of Me”. Just over 2 years. A short and long period at the same time. An eternity for Polaris. Nothing will ever be the same for them again. Looking for the best metalcore album of the year 2020? Maybe it’s already out!