LIVE REVIEW: Polaris @ SWX, Bristol
It’s been a little too long since POLARIS last graced British shores – three years too long. But they’re back with a vengeance in support of their 2020 album The Death Of Me. They may be halfway through the UK leg of their tour but it seems as though they’ve only just started.
Opening the evening just a short 15 minutes after doors opened was STEPSON. The first of three Australian bands playing this tour, they bring a new lease of life to the melodic hardcore genre. It’s a real shame that they had to play so soon, as most ticketholders for the night have barely had a chance to get near the venue, never mind actually inside SWX. They are an extremely solid opening act, throwing the audience around with whiplash changes of genre. A lot of their songs are heavy, djent-y tunes that have the audience headbanging in sync, much like opener Learning To Let Go does, then others border on the more light-hearted pop-punk style. This isn’t a bad thing however, and it keeps the audience on their toes throughout. These breakneck genre changes allows the audience a little time to recuperate and allows the band themselves to show off their songwriting skills. STEPSON is a band that really deserves to be appreciated but the lack of an audience doesn’t stop them as they play as if there is thousands in front of them, and for that they should be commended.
Rating: 8/10
By the end of STEPSON’s set, the room has sufficiently filled, just in time for GREAT AMERICAN GHOST to take to the stage. They’re up there as one of the heavier bands on the lineup and it doesn’t take them long to cement this fact to the quickly growing audience in front of them. Their set is full of bouncy guitar riffs that do nothing but energise the crowd who have no hesitations in jumping and pitting – there really is no easing themselves into this. As the only American band on the lineup there’s a slight worry that they may feel out of place. They are anything but. Their sound is overflowing with modern metal and djent elements, most notable of which being the low tuned heavy guitars that make them look more like they’re playing ironing boards than musical instruments. They blend this modern style with more traditional metal guitar solos to create a sound that is truly their own. Though they may be ever so slightly different to the rest of the lineup, they make up for it in the enormous amounts of energy that all four members bring to the stage.
Rating: 8/10
Main support for the evening is provided by Tasmanian metalcore band ALPHA WOLF and suffice to say a large portion of the crowd seem to be here just to see this band. Not only have they brought a legion of followers but they have also decided to crack out the big guns for their set. It’s a stage riser. Frontman Lochie Keogh doesn’t waste any time and immediately jumps onto it, screaming out at the crowd as the thunderous opening of Ultra-Violet Violence echoes throughout the venue. The crowd are visibly more into the fast, heavy, death metal-inspired sound that ALPHA WOLF bring to the table and Keogh has them wrapped around his finger before they can even finish their first song. They follow his every command, pitting when told to, chanting, and splitting the room in preparation for a wall of death halfway through the set. They have every element of their performance down to a tee, with each member of the band knowing exactly when it’s their chance to interact with the crowd and get encourage them to move. Though this crowd doesn’t take much convincing at all.
Rating: 9/10
After a vigorous warm-up, the crowd is finally ready to set all engines to go. And that they do. POLARIS choose a more subdued opener than the rest of their counterparts with Pray For Rain, choosing to ease the audience in with the echoing ambient guitar, almost preparing them for the carnage that will no doubt ensue. This rest doesn’t last for long and as soon as the rest of the band kicks in, the room becomes almost like a hivemind with every member bouncing to the beat. We are spoiled right out of the gate as back-to-back performances of Vagabond and Creatures Of Habit treats us to some of the best drum work in modern metal that echo throughout SWX with all the ferocity of a thunderstorm, to the point where it reverberates through your bones.
We are also privy to one of the best guitar solos of recent years in Vagabond, witnessing guitarist Ryan Siew at his absolute best. Vocalist Jamie Hails decides he wants in on this action and pulls a tambourine out of nowhere, adding that extra percussive element that can be heard on the record. It may seem a bit odd but there are stranger things that have happened on stage. POLARIS are not relenting in the slightest, slapping us with a triple whammy of Hypermania, Above My Head, and Landmine. They are not taking any prisoners tonight and the sentiment that echoes throughout the venue is just “if you can’t keep up, then get out of the pit”. The circle pit that engulfs the entirety of the dance floor reflects this perfectly. A rendition of Masochist mellows the mood at the perfect time, giving everyone the time they need to catch their breath. This doesn’t last for very long though, because as soon as the track itself kicks in the entire room is back to its previous state. It’s hard to see anything past the hoard of bodies that move around the floor like feral creatures, purely just reacting to the music and nothing else around them. It feels as though their set could carry on forever – it definitely feels as though the audience would let it.
After a short but impressive drum solo from Daniel Funari, we are served with an encore of Martyr (Waves) and The Remedy. Both tracks are the perfect mixture of melodically impressive and brutal, giving Hails chance to show us what he’s truly made of. Seeing the audience reaction to this band, the sheer talent that they all possess on stage, and the way they can command a crowd of such volume really makes you question, surely this should be the year for a Main Stage Download slot for POLARIS. Right?
Rating: 10/10
Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Bristol from Serena Hill Photography here:
Like POLARIS on Facebook.