Last September, Australian metalcore band, Polaris, released their new album, Fatalism, which has lived as one of my most played albums in the last year. A perfect example of an album that holds creative fibers in both emotional tenderness as much as it does in face-melting riffs by a group who continues to excel in songwriting with consistent bangers. After a canceled North American Spring tour, Polaris heads out on their headlining tour from August to September with support from Blessthefall, Thousand Below and Nerv. The third stop on the tour was Riverside, CA with a Friday night show on August 30th at the Riverside Municipal Auditorium.
Nerv opened things up getting the crowd roused for the evening. The venue was already packed and the decibels were high. Second on stage was post-hardcore group, Thousand Below, who kept momentum going with some bangers of their own. Very impressed with vocalist Dillon Jones’ accented black metal bleghs at the end of some yowling screams. Blessedthefall cracked open their ruptured set with “Wake the Dead,” “Cutthroat” and a favorite for the OG fans, “Hollow Bodies.” I was very impressed with this group’s energy and connection to the audience. Vocalist Beau Bokan and bassist/vocalist Jared Warth both got into the pit and climbed up onto the barricade to hold hands with fans and scream-sing into the moshers and the surfers.
The whole venue was buzzing in between sets with a visceral anticipation for Polaris. Then finally, the house music went off with the lights and a loud roar from the crowd bounced between the high ceilings of the venue. Distorted guitar from the opening of “Crossfire” started us off and vocalist Jamie Hails took the stage. A strong track from their newest album to open on as it showcases Polaris’ heavier side balanced with its delicate side. The set list then jumped back an album to play fan favorites, “All of This Is Fleeting,” “Hypermania” and “Above My Head” from 2020 album The Death of Me. Jamie stopped in between tracks to tell the crowd to open up the pit. The enthused crowd obeyed and a righteous circle pit started to whirlpool with crowd surfers cruising the barricade.
Before jumping back up to the newer album, Jamie stopped to say a few words in memoriam of Ryan Siew, Polaris’ former guitar player who passed away in June 2023. A bittersweet part of the show that has to be part of every show as Ryan was an integral part of the group who provided talented riffs to so many of their strongest songs. The band geared up to play “Overflow” from Fatalism and the whole venue started moving. People were moshing, surfing, headbanging or just dancing off to the sides. No one was still.
The setlist jumped further back to their 2017 album The Mortal Coil with “Sonder” and “The Remedy”, fan favorite, “Masochist” from The Death of Me, and then threw out Fatalism banger after banger, “Dissipate,” “With Regards,” “All In Vain,” “Nightmare,” “Inhumane.”
After seeing their recently released live music video for “Dissipate,” it was rewarding to watch thai one unfold in person. After playing Fatalism on repeat all year it was phenomenal to witness all these bangers live, especially the much anticipated thrasher anthem, “Nightmare.” In love with the whole setlist, I was only sad that they didn’t play my personal favorite “Harbinger” which is the album opener and would make for an epic show opener. There unfortunately wasn’t an encore, but Jamie politely let us know before going into the tail end of the show.
Polaris is a band that can write catchy, creative riffs, provide meaningful, sorrowful poetic lyrics, and as I have come to learn from the show on Friday, deliver a live show full of charisma and cataclysmic sounds powerful enough to levitate bodies and dismantle that aching feeling of the internal void. It was an honor to cover this show and although I’m shocked this was my first time, I know it won’t be my last. Hailing from the land down under, Polaris will be hitting cities across North America until September 29th. Go listen to their new album, Fatalism and don’t sleep on the Polaris experience when they come your way.
POLARIS & BLESSTHEFALL — AUGUST 30, 2024 — RIVERSIDE MUINCIPAL AUDITORIUM (RIVERSIDE, CA)
