Polaris (Australian band)

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Polaris
File:Polaris 2019 Landscape.jpg
Background information
OriginSydney, Australia
Genres
Years active2012–present
Labels
Members
  • Jamie Hails
  • Daniel Furnari
  • Rick Schneider
  • Jake Steinhauser
Past members
  • James West
  • Matt Steinhauser
  • Ryan Siew
Websitepolarisaus.com

Polaris are an Australian metalcore band from Sydney.[1] The band consists of vocalist Jamie Hails, guitarist Rick Schneider, bassist/vocalist Jake Steinhauser and drummer Daniel Furnari.

They released their debut album, The Mortal Coil on 3 November 2017 to critical acclaim and it was nominated for the 2018 ARIA Award for Best Hard Rock.[2] On 14 November 2019 Polaris announced their second full length titled The Death of Me, released on 21 February 2020 through Resist/SharpTone records subsequently earning their second ARIA Award nomination.[3] Shortly after announcing the upcoming release of their third studio album, Fatalism, the band confirmed via social media platforms that lead guitarist Ryan Siew had died on 19 June 2023.[4]

Polaris are known for their metalcore and progressive metalcore[5] sound with progressive and ambient soundscapes, electronics and melodic hooks, intertwined with personal lyrics – often dealing with anxiety, depression and loss.

History

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Early career and Dichotomy (2012–2013)

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Polaris was formed in 2012 by drummer Daniel Furnari and guitarist Jake Steinhauser after meeting at their high school battle of the bands, quickly discovering a mutual love for metal and alternative music. Josh O'loughlin was the first main vocalist. The two then recruited guitarist Rick Schneider and vocalist Jamie Hails through mutual friends and word of mouth. Matt Steinhauser, Jake's brother, was brought on board to handle bass duties and completed the line-up with James West on synth/keys. The group began working on music together writing and recording their first single "Summit" and the majority of the Dichotomy EP in early 2012. In late 2012, Polaris announced the departure of both Matt Steinhauser and West. Guitarist Jake then switched onto bass to focus on his singing, as the band was pushing towards a more progressive sound.

The band began looking for a new guitarist, holding public auditions. On 18 November 2013, the band announced Ryan Siew, as their new guitarist, who was 15 years old at the time.[6] Shortly after joining the Dichotomy EP was released on 29 November 2013 independently.[7]

The Guilt and The Grief (2014–2016)

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On 3 March 2015, the single "Unfamiliar" was released; it was the first track to feature Siew as lead guitarist. Polaris continued to write and finished an additional 5 tracks to complete their second EP titled The Guilt & The Grief. The EP was recorded with Sonny True Love and Evan Lee at STL studios on the North Coast of NSW, and it was mixed by Carson Slovak and Grant McFarland of Atrium Audio in Pennsylvania, USA. The Guilt & The Grief was released independently by the band on 29 January 2016 and landed at No. 34 on the ARIA charts.

The Mortal Coil (2017–2018)

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Main article: The Mortal Coil (album)

On 3 November 2017, Polaris released their first studio album The Mortal Coil through Resist Records and Sharptone Records. The album was nominated for the 2018 ARIA Award for Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album as well as for the Australian Album of the Year award at the J Awards.

The Death of Me (2019–2022)

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Main article: The Death of Me (Polaris album)

On 21 February 2020, Polaris released their second studio album The Death of Me, also through Resist Records and Sharptone Records. The album was nominated for the 2020 ARIA Award for Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album. On 3 July 2020, the band released the instrumental editions of their albums, The Mortal Coil and The Death of Me.[8][9]

In an interview with Wall of Sound, Jamie Hails confirmed the band have been working on new material during the pandemic, which they would not be releasing until they have toured The Death of Me internationally.[10]

On 27 July 2022, Australian electronic artist and producer PhaseOne released a collaboration track with the band entitled "Icarus", marking the first time the band have collaborated with another artist on new music.[11]

On 4 November 2022, Polaris announced via social media "We have entered the studio to begin assembling our next body of work" with their live sound engineer Lance Prenc at Kinglake Studios in Melbourne.

Fatalism and Siew's death (2023–present)

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Main article: Fatalism (album)

On 24 May 2023, Polaris announced on social media that their new song "Inhumane" would debut on radio station Triple J on 25 May at 4:30 pm.[12] The song had previously been played live on their ten-year anniversary Australian tour. Upon "Inhumane"'s release, the band announced their third studio album Fatalism, which was set to be released on 1 September.[13] The following week, a headlining Australian tour was announced with August Burns Red, Kublai Khan Tx and Currents.[14] The band then headed to Europe for a run of festival dates with then-Windwaker guitarist Jesse Crofts filling in as guitarist Ryan Siew dealt with ongoing health issues.[15] On 20 June, however, Polaris announced via social media that they were "withdrawing from all remaining dates" of their tour due to a "serious personal crisis",[16] and on 27 June 2023, the band confirmed via social media platforms that Siew had died on the morning of 19 June.[4]

The following month, on July 24, the band announced that they would be going forward with the release of Fatalism and its accompanying tour in honour of Siew, after lengthy discussions between the band and Siew's family. "This is the last set of complete songs that we wrote together with Ryan," the band said, "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."[17] The album's second single, "Nightmare", was released later that week on 26 July.[18] On 24 August, the band released the album's third single, "Overflow", ahead of the album's official release on 1 September.[19] Fatalism debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart the week of its release, marking the band's first-ever chart-topping album.[20]

On 23 March 2024, the band announced that drummer Daniel Furnari was withdrawing from the European leg of the Fatalism tour due to ill health[21] and replaced by Conjurer drummer Noah See. Furnari would return to the lineup for the band's tour of regional Australia with Ocean Grove, as well as Sydney bands Bloom and Inertia.

On 16 October 2024, Knotfest announced that Polaris would join the lineup for their 2025 Australian festival.[22] In a February 2025 interview with The Music, vocalist Jamie Hails revealed that the band was in the early stages of writing new music, and that touring guitarist Jesse Crofts has been included in their songwriting sessions.[23]

On 5 September 2025, 2 years after the album's original release, the band released the instrumental version of Fatalism.[24]

Band members

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Timeline

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Colors = 

 id:UV      value:claret      legend:Unclean_vocals,_percussion
 id:V       value:red         legend:Clean_vocals
 id:LG      value:teal        legend:Lead_guitar
 id:RG      value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_guitar
 id:B       value:blue        legend:Bass
 id:D       value:orange      legend:Drums
 id:KS      value:purple      legend:Synthesizer,_keyboards
 id:studio  value:black       legend:Studio_album
 id:other   value:gray(0.6)   legend:Other_release
 id:bars    value:gray(0.95)

BackgroundColors = bars:bars

LineData = 

 layer:back

 color:other
 at:29/11/2013
 at:29/01/2016

 color:studio
 at:03/11/2017
 at:21/02/2020
 at:01/09/2023

BarData = 

bar:Hails         text:"Jamie Hails"
bar:Schneider     text:"Rick Schneider"
bar:Siew          text:"Ryan Siew"
bar:JSteinhauser  text:"Jake Steinhauser"
bar:MSteinhauser  text:"Matt Steinhauser"
bar:Furnari       text:"Daniel Furnari"
bar:West          text:"James West"

PlotData= 

width:11  textcolor:black 
bar:Hails          from:01/01/2012  till:end        color:UV
bar:Siew           from:18/11/2013  till:20/06/2023 color:LG
bar:Schneider      from:01/01/2012  till:18/11/2013 color:LG
bar:Schneider      from:19/06/2023  till:end        color:LG
bar:Schneider      from:18/11/2013  till:16/06/2023 color:RG
bar:Schneider      from:19/06/2023  till:end        color:RG width:3
bar:JSteinhauser   from:01/01/2012  till:18/11/2013 color:RG
bar:JSteinhauser   from:01/01/2012  till:end        color:V width:3
bar:JSteinhauser   from:18/11/2013  till:end        color:B 
bar:MSteinhauser   from:01/01/2012  till:18/11/2013 color:B
bar:West           from:01/01/2012  till:02/04/2014 color:KS
bar:Furnari        from:01/01/2012  till:end        color:D

</timeline>

Discography

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Studio albums

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List of studio albums
Title Details Peak chart positions
AUS
[25] 		GER
[26]
The Mortal Coil
  • Released: 3 November 2017
  • Label: Resist, SharpTone
  • Formats: CD, digital download, vinyl
 6 —
The Death of Me
  • Released: 21 February 2020
  • Label: Resist, SharpTone
  • Formats: CD, digital download, vinyl
 3 39
Fatalism
  • Released: 1 September 2023[27]
  • Label: Resist, SharpTone
  • Formats: CD, digital download, vinyl
 1 25

EPs

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List of EPs
Title Details Peak chart positions
AUS
[25]
Dichotomy
  • Released: 29 November 2013
  • Label: Independent
  • Formats: CD, digital download
 —
The Guilt & the Grief
  • Released: 29 January 2016
  • Label: Independent
  • Formats: CD, digital download
 34

Certified singles

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Title Year Certifications Album
"The Remedy" 2017 The Mortal Coil
"Masochist" 2019 The Death of Me

Awards and nominations

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AIR Awards

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The Australian Independent Record Awards (known colloquially as the AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2021 The Death of Me Best Independent Heavy Album or EP Won [30][31]
2024 Fatalism Best Independent Heavy Album or EP Won [32]

APRA Awards

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The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters". They commenced in 1982.[33]

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2021 "Masochist" (Jamie Hails, Daniel Furnari, Rick Schneider, Ryan Siew, Jacob Steinhauser) Song of the Year Shortlisted [34]
2024 "Inhumane" (Daniel Furnari, Jamie Hails, Rick Schneider, Ryan Siew, Jacob Steinhauser, Shawn Mayer) Song of the Year Shortlisted [35]
Most Performed Hard Rock / Heavy Metal Work Nominated [36]
2025 "Nightmare" (Daniel Furnari, Jamie Hails, Rick Schneider, Ryan Siew, Jacob Steinhauser) Most Performed Hard Rock / Heavy Metal Work Nominated [37]

ARIA Music Awards

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The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2018 The Mortal Coil Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album Nominated
2020[38] The Death of Me Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album Nominated
2024[39] Fatalism Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album Nominated

Australian Music Prize

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The Australian Music Prize (the AMP) is an annual award of $30,000 given to an Australian band or solo artist in recognition of the merit of an album released during the year of award. It exists to discover, reward and promote new Australian music of excellence.[40]

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2023 Fatalism Australian Music Prize Nominated [41]

J Awards

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The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. They commenced in 2005.

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2018 The Mortal Coil Australian Album of the Year Nominated [42]
2023 Fatalism Australian Album of the Year Nominated [43]

National Live Music Awards

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The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) commenced in 2016 to recognise contributions to the live music industry in Australia.

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2023 Polaris Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Act Nominated [44][45]

Rolling Stone Australia Awards

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The Rolling Stone Australia Awards are awarded annually in January or February by the Australian edition of Rolling Stone magazine for outstanding contributions to popular culture in the previous year.[46]

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2021 The Death of Me Best Record Nominated [47]

References

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