Following the passing of their bandmate Ryan Siew, Polaris will proceed with their original album release and Australian tour plans.
Australian metalcore band Polaris has addressed their upcoming plans as a band following the passing of their guitarist and close friend Ryan Siew.
Shocked and heartbroken, the Sydney band comprising vocalist Jamie Hails, bassist/clean vocalist Jake Steinhauser, drummer Daniel Furnari and fellow guitarist Rick Schneider confirmed Siew’s death, at age 26, via social media in June.
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Now, in a post to social media, the band has announced they would be sticking to their original plans, releasing their new album FATALISM on September 1 and continuing their Australian and North American tours as planned.
“After much consideration, in the face of everything we are dealing with, we have decided to proceed with our upcoming plans. This means our new album FATALISM will still be released on September 1,” the band said.
“This is the last set of complete songs that we wrote together with Ryan, and though the circumstances of their release are now framed by this tragedy, the meaning of the songs and the love we have for them has not changed. We are incredibly proud of this record and looking forward to sharing it with you, and now more than ever we hope that you will connect with it.
“The Fatalism Australian & North American tours will be going ahead as planned. Please note that the Brisbane & Newcastle shows of the AU tour have already sold out. We also have another short set of international dates that were booked several months ago, which we will be announcing very shortly. These shows were always going to be special to us, but now they come with a different weight. Playing these shows will not be easy… It will be different. It will be beautiful & bittersweet.
“But this is what we love most, and right now we choose to put our faith in the healing power of art and community. We want to do this for ourselves, for you, and for Ryan. We hope to see you there.”
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The Australian tour will be the Sydney-heavy icons commense proceedings on Thursday 7 September at Metro City in Perth and continue on a massive run around the country, visiting Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, Newcastle, Brisbane and, to close out this mammoth tour, a night at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion on Saturday 16 September.
Bringing extra heat to the nights, Polaris will also be joined by three special guests all the way from America, including Pennsylvanian metalcore merchants August Burns Red, Texan heavies Kublai Khan TX and Connecticut riff machines Currents.
Fear and its potent ability to divide and unite us lies at the beating core of the band’s third album Fatalism, officially due out on Friday 1 September via Resist Records in Australia and SharpTone Records for the rest of the world. Steeped in angst alongside underlying catharsis, an expanded thematic gaze and heavier sonic terrain, Fatalism organically builds on the bleak imagery and hard-hitting soundscapes permeating Polaris’s previous release, 2020’s The Death of Me, while also galvanizing the band’s trademark blend of melodic metalcore, lush post rock, electronic flourishes and beyond.
This one will be really special; this one’s for Ryan.
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