LIVE REVIEW: Polar @ Boston Music Room, London

With the release of their fourth album Nova, POLAR have begun a new chapter in the bands career. The band have been working relentlessly over the last 10 years and have built up a dedicated fan base who are out in force at the first show of the Nova tour at the Boston Music Room in London.

Up first were TRIPSITTER, with this being their first time in the UK the nerves were very apparent. Having the stage completely dark outside of a few lamps shows they’ve definitely put some thought into their live aesthetic and does really suit the bleakness of their sound. And that’s where TRIPSITTER excel, the songs off their debut The Other Side Of Sadness sound incredible live and despite the nerves the band still inject a great deal of passion into these songs. TRIPSITTER show plenty of promise and once they get their live show up to the standards of their recorded output then they could become something really great.

Rating: 7/10

CONFESSIONS OF A TRAITOR are completely lacking in any of the raw emotion of TRIPSITTER and lack in any real subtlety or nuance. But they make up for this with the sheer energy of their metalcore. There is nothing you haven’t heard before here but the band explode onto the stage if only lasting a few seconds before most members find themselves scattered across the whole venue. The band spend more time in the crowd than they do on stage and their enthusiasm for what they do is so great it’s hard not to get caught up. Musically this is as straightforward as metalcore gets. Big muscular riffs, the odd clean chorus and lots of breakdowns. But again what they lack in originality they make up for in passion and it that’s really what wins over the crowd tonight.

Rating: 7/10

POLAR remain one of the most reliable bands in the UK. They’ve never been the biggest band here but have just kept going for the last 10 years always putting everything they have into their performances and tonight is no different. The new songs off Nova are a welcome addition to their set as they add a few new elements to POLAR’s sound. Vocalist Adam ‘Woody’ Woodford is as fired up as ever running around the stage and leaping onto the crowd at every possible moment. The band still sound incredibly tight live even with a new drummer touring with them for the first time. Whilst it’s the older songs like Blood for Blood and Black Days that get the biggest reaction, it’s clear that fans have already embraced Nova and most people here already know every word to those songs.

With the newer materials greater reliance on electronics, it would be nice if POLAR could have actually had this stuff played live and not just have a backing track but it is understandable why as not every band can realistically do that. But this barely hurts these songs, Drive still sounds massive as they close with it. Once again POLAR delivered another highly entertaining set and the passion on display from their fans showed that whilst they’ll never be the biggest metalcore band in the UK, their fans absolutely love them This was a great way to kick off the touring cycle for Nova.

Rating: 8/10