Polaris are arguably the most important modern metalcore band Australia has produced. The Sydney quintet have spent a decade building a genuinely global audience on a foundation of crushing heaviness, sophisticated songwriting and lyrical honesty about mental health and personal struggle that has connected deeply with metal fans worldwide. Their ARIA Award wins have made them one of the most critically acclaimed Australian heavy bands of the modern era.
The Sydney Beginnings
Polaris formed in the western Sydney suburbs in 2012 around vocalist Jamie Hails, guitarists Ryan Siew and Rick Schneider, bassist Jake Steinhauser and drummer Daniel Furnari. The band emerged from the fertile modern metalcore scene that had developed in Sydney through the 2000s and early 2010s — a scene that had already produced successful acts like Buried in Verona and House vs Hurricane but that was about to enter a new era of genuine international success.
The band's early EPs Dichotomy (2013) and The Guilt and the Grief (2016) established Polaris as one of the most promising young metalcore bands in Australia. The combination of Hails's emotionally raw vocal delivery, Steinhauser's impressive clean vocal work and the band's instrumental tightness marked them out as clear successors to the metalcore traditions established by Parkway Drive and their contemporaries.
The Mortal Coil Breakthrough
The 2017 debut full-length album The Mortal Coil was the record that transformed Polaris from promising Sydney metalcore band into genuine international contenders. The album's combination of crushing heaviness with genuinely emotional songwriting and a production aesthetic that emphasised both clarity and weight marked Polaris as something more than just another metalcore band.
The Mortal Coil was the moment that made it clear Polaris were not interested in just being a successful Australian metalcore band. They were interested in being one of the best metalcore bands in the world.
The album debuted at number six on the ARIA chart — an extraordinary commercial achievement for a metalcore album in Australia — and established the band as genuine festival headliners and international touring prospects.
The Death of Me
The 2020 album The Death of Me was the record that cemented Polaris's position among the elite of global modern metalcore. The album dealt honestly and unflinchingly with themes of mental health, grief and personal struggle through a combination of crushing heaviness and genuinely beautiful melodic songwriting that connected with audiences worldwide.
The Death of Me won the ARIA Award for Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album in 2020 — a genuine industry recognition of what the band had achieved artistically. The album also received extraordinary critical acclaim from metal publications globally and established Polaris as one of the most important metalcore acts of their generation.
Tragedy and Triumph
In 2023 Polaris suffered the sudden and devastating loss of guitarist Ryan Siew at the age of 26. The loss was felt deeply across the Australian and global metal communities and represented one of the most painful moments in modern Australian metal history. The band's response — continuing Siew's artistic legacy while honouring his memory — demonstrated the genuine character and resilience of the Polaris community.
The 2023 album Fatalism, released just weeks after Siew's passing, contained some of the band's most emotionally powerful songwriting. The album's themes of mortality, grief and persistence took on devastating new meaning in the context of the band's loss, and the resulting record stands as both a continuation of their artistic evolution and a tribute to Siew's contribution to the band.
Why Polaris Matter
Polaris represent the modern evolution of Australian metalcore. Where Parkway Drive established the template for international Australian metalcore success, Polaris have refined and expanded that template for a new generation. Their willingness to engage honestly with difficult emotional subject matter — particularly around mental health — has made them genuinely important ambassadors for a new kind of heavy music that combines brutality with emotional vulnerability.
The band's ARIA Award wins, their international festival appearances and their uncompromising artistic vision have made Polaris one of the most respected and successful Australian metal acts of the past decade. They are the band that has shown a new generation of Australian metalcore acts what is possible. Keep it heavy.