ALBUM REVIEW: Remember That You Will Die – Polyphia
Jimi Hendrix. Eddie Van Halen. Yngwie Malmsteen. Buckethead. Every generation has had their guitar virtuosos whose proficiency is legendary. For the past decade, POLYPHIA have established themselves as the latest guitar heroes, their unique blend of hip hop, djent, pop and EDM teeming with noodly guitars and unfathomable talent. From their beginnings as a classical guitar YouTube band to this, their fourth studio album, their rise has been incredible.
Having released four singles from this album of 12 songs already, fans have had a promising – and at times confusing – look at what POLYPHIA look and sound like in 2022. First there was Playing God and Neurotica, which were decidedly POLYPHIA, chock full of polyrhythmic fretwork and so thick with effects pedals and notes that a guitar tab would be a nightmare to look at. The opening Spanish guitar lick of Playing God alone is enough to make your head spin. Business as usual so far, then.
We also got Ego Death featuring the legend STEVE VAI which is a somewhat self-referential, self-aware and self-congratulatory number – although who can blame them. With Scottie LePage given more of the spotlight, the track combines classical and metal guitar lines, complete with breath-taking sweeps, stunning alternate picking sequences and a hefty dose of whammy abuse. Already a stellar song, hearing it in the context of Remember That You Will Die elevates it to another level. With a final ‘verse’ that is wholly triumphant thanks to its use of brass and that final trumpeted outro, placing it at the end of this album ties everything up with a neat bow and cements POLYPHIA as guitar overlords of the 21st Century, intent on bringing guitar music back to the masses.
But the big single was ABC, featuring pop star SOPHIA BLACK, which signalled a monumental new chapter in the sound of POLYPHIA. For only the second time, (first being So Strange from previous album New Levels, New Devils) there were vocals on their track, and while the instrumentation was largely what we’ve come to expect from the Texan quartet, the bubblegum chorus of “Someone call a paramedic / I can’t speak it’s all phonetic / Made me forget every word / Coz like that’s a lot of letters” gave fans their first big opportunity for a singalong hook. It’s an intoxicating pop banger that may have ruffled a few feathers, but to once again put it into the context of Remember That You Will Die, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Because Remember That You Will Die features five songs with vocals. Memento Mori features rapper KILLSTATION and treads more of a conscious hip-hop vibe; Fuck Around And Find Out goes in more of a gangster rap direction thanks to punchy vox from $NOT whilst maintaining POLYPHIA’s telltale instrumentation; and Chimera manages to combine classical guitar routes with licks of their more modern djent angles and ends with a lo-fi feature from LIL WEST.
But the big draw for many will be Bloodbath, which features DEFTONES and ††† frontman Chino Moreno. While this is still distinctly a POLYPHIA track, the band’s chameleonic abilities make this a dream fit for Moreno’s inimitable vocal style without either party feeling out of place or forced. Equal parts dreamy, hooky and chunky, the djent stylings unfold into a soaring, spine-tingling solo, complete with whammy dive. A match made in heaven.
Of course, POLYPHIA are not just a guitar band, as much as the focal point tends to come from Henson and LePage. On Remember That You Will Die, the rhythm section – consisting of Clay Gober on bass and Clay Aeschliman on drums – gives an absolute powerhouse performance. The bass grooves given to opening track Genesis are infectious and get you in a dancing mood right away, while the drums in tandem with a drum machine lay an evergreen bed of scintillating snares and chiming cymbals.
Remember That You Will Die possesses many moments and qualities that will stop you in your tracks – the pop choruses, the face-melting solos, the stacked features list – and yet as a complete album, something still feels off. Detractors of the band have long maintained that there’s little feeling to the music; that it’s music for musicians and shows off because they have the chops to do so. While a lot of that is alleviated here – POLYPHIA have done a fantastic job of injecting emotion and soul into most of these songs – there are some that still fall a little flat.
The aforementioned Fuck Around And Find Out is one such example of filler-grade material, as is Reverie and – suitably – All Falls Apart. Whether it’s a case of other material here being the strongest they’ve ever put out, these tracks don’t feel suited to this new age of POLYPHIA. Stuck in the past and littered throughout the album like they are, it leaves a bitter taste when you go from the highs of The Audacity (which features killer key work from ANOMALIE) straight into something that feels like it could be off their first album or a B-side.
It takes what could have been an end-of-year list staple and relegates Remember That You Will Die to an album from which listeners will handpick certain songs and moments. Honestly, it’s a frustrating and upsetting conclusion to come to right when it felt like they’d nailed the formula and produced some of the most impressive songs of the year. There’s always next time.
Rating: 7/10
Remember You Will Die is set for release on October 28th via Rise Records
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