Polaris made a name for themselves with the debut album The Mortal Coil, and proved that they were absolutely here to stay with their outstanding follow-up The Death of Me. Their unique sound that they put on the map with tracks like The Remedy and Lucid has evolved wonderfully on this record, as with their musicianship and songwriting.
The Death of Me boasts both an extremely heavy sound and an emotional one, with a fair amount of overlap here and there. Tracks like Landmine and Creatures of Habit have a neck-breaking guarantee, while tracks like Masochist and Martyr (Waves) will have you singing your heart out. Their versatility as a metalcore outfit is unmistakable, and their quality is unmatched.
The riffage throughout this entire tracklist is impeccable. Their guitarwork is very distinct from the rest of the modern metalcore scene and is pushing the sound in new directions, writing catchy riffs that defy convention and reinventing both breakdowns and chunkage in their music. Their vocalwork is splendid as well, with Jamie's brutal yet grounded uncleans laying out most of the record, and Jake's heartfelt and unbridled cleans delivering powerful choruses and somber verses. I love that they've taken the time and effort in this record to both develop and advance their techniques and styles. Some of the more memorable deliveries in this album sees Jamie focusing more on rhythm and flow, akin to rapping, in his screams, like in Pray for Rain, and some of the more emotional choruses in this album sees Jake delving into unclean territory, like in All of This Is Fleeting.
My favourite track off the record happens to be the pseudo-titular track Vagabond, whose lyrics are the only place where the album title is found. I personally like to think that Vagabond represents the album as a whole and thematically brings everything together. It's lyrical content about feeling alone in the world and the struggles that come with it almost perfectly encapsulates the sentiment of the album, and with it's unfortunately timely release in 2020, the situation of many in the world. I found the song itself to be a great catharsis, especially with the lyrics in the chorus, and I just can't help but appreciate good songwriting that can evoke such genuine, raw human emotion.
Polaris definitely has the talent and skill, but this record was a giant leap in their consistency in quality and I enjoyed spinning this entire album over and over again immensely. My obsession period with this album (like many others) is long gone now, but I have no hesitation letting it play when it comes up on the queue, and I sure as hell can guarantee I'll be headbanging, screaming along or both.
Rating: 9/10