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Writer's pictureR’nR With Rylo

Spin #133 : Polaris : The Death of Me





SUNDAY DROP - SPIN # 133 FROM THE R'NR WITH RYLO RECORD COLLECTION


Welcome to the 133rd record from the R'nR with Rylo Collection! Night Kat Kiz, the kids and I are excited to bring you the second full length album, 'The Death of Me' by Australian band - Polaris. They've recently been touring for their recent album, 'Fatalism' and have had their fanbase grow tenfold due to their style of music. A true metalcore band that tends to smash it out of the park every time they put out an album. I could have chosen any of their releases to put on our turntable this weekend but felt that this was the right choice. I've also got their earlier EP - 'The Guilt and the Grief' and a signed copy of 'The Mortal Coil'. Sadly the boys lost their band mate in lead guitarist, Ryan Siew in 2023. I don't know what the long term future holds for the boys from Sydney but I know that they play their hearts out to the fans in his honour. I've been lucky enough to see them in their early days and will definitely need to get to one of their shows when they play in Sydney again.


I almost forgot to mention that they've been put on the line-up for 'Knotfest' Australia in 2025. Tickets will probably be just outside my price range but what an achievement for this band. Make sure you mosh with them next year if you are lucky enough to live in Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney. Plus, you'll get to see In Hearts Wake, A Day To Remember, Vended, Slaughter to Prevail, Hatebreed, Slipknot and others. They've had some pretty good line-ups recently but I thought that they might have included one or two major acts like Machine Head or someone of their stature.



I purchased this half blue and half pink variant from discogs, after missing out on a copy initially. It was so popular and I kept holding off, thinking that I'd be able to add it to our collection later on. Thankfully I could find a copy for a good price because it is difficult to find these days. Our copy was in mint condition and includes the lyric sheet too. All of their album titles seem to be around dark themes but when I listen to their music I feel that it's not all dark. If you enjoy heavy and clean vocals with fast paced guitar playing and heavy drumming - this is the band you'll need to get into. Speaking of drums, the kids were so excited when a Bluey minisode came on the tele last night. It was the one where Bingo finds herself dabbling with an electronic drum kit at the music store. It got the kids up and about and I swear they both would have started playing drums if we had a kit.


Dropping the stylus on this one and the kids liked the turntable as it spun with the blue and pink colour. I had to lift each of them up to see the platter, because we have it on the cube wall that separates the sitting room and office area. If I can, I do try and purchase black wax but sometimes we haven't got a choice. The gloomy weather (our son's favourite word to describe the weather outside) makes it perfect for spinning records and we even managed a little adventure between the showers on Saturday. Night Kat Kiz and I thought that we would take the kids to catch their first ever train today. We stopped at Thirroul and walked to the playground and beach before returning home with some ice-cream. They were in awe of the train station and how it all works. Seeing their little faces light up in amazement was very rewarding. Night Kat Kiz and I were completely exhausted but it was all worth it seeing the kids faces smeared with ice cream. It was also confirmed by the kids that sitting on the top level of the train was better than sitting down the bottom. He also said as we walked back to the car - "Next week we can catch the train to Singapore".



The opening three tracks on the album are regarded as the natural single worthy tracks and it's easy to see why. It opens up with a softer approach before setting the tone of what is to come. I feel this album is solid all the way through and gets stronger with each listen. With most of the albums that we add to the collection, we find very few have weak tracks and that is what makes records so enjoyable. Particularly, as artist's use this as the preferred medium to sell music, they do seem to be putting a lot more thought into the overall listening experience.


Some of the catchiest lyrics for me happen on second track, 'HYPERMANIA'

"Here we go again, I've been up, I've been down every day. Something tells me I was always gonna be this way. We all need something to take off the edge". I haven't had the opportunity to hear this song performed live but I can imagine how much they would slow it down, in order to hype the crowd up before unleashing this moment. I was also listening to this album throughout the week in the car and with my headphones while doing odd jobs. They mixed and mastered this one at Think Loud studios in Pennsylvania with Carson Slovak & Grant McFarland. I'll have to read the liner notes for the bands other albums to see if they used the same place.


  • SIDE A - 'PRAY FOR RAIN', 'HYPERMANIA', 'MASOCHIST', 'LANDMINE','VAGABOND'

  • SIDE B - 'CREATURES OF HABIT', 'ABOVE MY HEAD', 'MARTYR (WAVES)', 'ALL OF THIS IS FLEETING', 'THE DESCENT'


Often an artist or band will load the start of the album with all of their singles but Polaris have ended the album with some fantastic songs too. One that comes to mind is 'MARTYR (WAVES)'. It is an emotionally charged track that our kids loved hearing come through our Marshall Woburn II speaker. We all had a pair of drum sticks at one stage and were drumming along. Until the kids decided to each get a canvas over-shoulder bag and pretend they were Police officers with drum sticks. More of a ballad style track and breaks up the heaviness for a fleeting moment. What have been some of your favourite songs from 'The Death of Me'?



So a few things that happened this week on the homefront - Our son got to see Healthy Harold, the giraffe that attends schools to discuss healthy eating to the kids. When Night Kat Kiz and I saw him, he was known as Happy Harold. I'll have to get a photo of our son with the van next week to show you all. I picked up a 'fun' bacterial infection in my nostril that worried us. I was able to get some anti-biotics and cream to reverse what was beginning to look like a flesh eating bug was turning me into a zombie. It's calmed down a lot now and looking much better.


Our 3 year old daughter was kicking out at me as I was putting her shoes on for the adventure outside. It seems to be a new skill that she has unlocked and really not loving the three-nager stage right now. I told her to be careful and our 5 year old son said, "yeh, don't kick Dad there. He had his penis cut off". He said this with the utmost care and big eyes to show me he sympathised with me. I explained to both of them what exactly happened and reassured them that Dad didn't get his penis cut-off. Hopefully he hasn't been saying things at school to his teachers, how embarrassing and funny. We also watched the latest 'Salem's Lot' movie. I can see it was a lot closer to the storyline within the book but suffered from cutting room editing and long studio interference - such a shame.


Polaris are worthy of your money and time and hope that you enjoyed reading our 133rd Sunday Spin this week. If you haven't really enjoyed the last two weeks and not that interested in metal music, then come back next week for a non-metal album. Thanks for getting involved in our MWSP and Let's Get Lyrical Friday fun. Hug your loved ones each and every day and take it easy on the roads. Too many lives are lost by avoidable decisions. We will probably head back to the playground if this wind decides to calm down. The kids had a lot of fun playing with the water sinks and 'sharing'.


Until our next Spin.....






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