Polaris

Polaris were formed in Sydney in 2012 by drummer Daniel Furnari and guitarist Jake Steinhauser, who had met at a high-school battle of the bands. After the early line-up settled, singer Jamie Hails, guitarist Rick Schneider and Steinhauser, now on bass and clean vocals, were joined in 2013 by the teenage lead guitarist Ryan Siew.

A string of independent EPs built a loyal following on the Australian circuit, and the band signed with Resist Records at home and SharpTone Records abroad. Their debut album The Mortal Coil (2017) earned an ARIA Award nomination, and The Death of Me (2020) pushed their technical, heavily melodic metalcore to a much wider audience.

Tragedy struck in June 2023, when Ryan Siew died at the age of 26. The band chose to go ahead with Fatalism, the last set of songs the five of them had written together, and the album was released on 1 September 2023. It debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart.

Since then Jesse Crofts has played guitar with Polaris on tour, and the band have kept up a busy international schedule. In 2026 they toured North America with Electric Callboy and Europe with I Prevail while working on the follow-up to Fatalism.

Current line-up: Jamie Hails (vocals), Rick Schneider (guitar), Jake Steinhauser (bass, vocals), Daniel Furnari (drums). Live guitar: Jesse Crofts.