Polaris Debut At #1 On ARIA Charts With Massive Third Album ‘Fatalism’

Australian metal is alive and well, Polaris have proved by debuting at #1 on the ARIA Top 50 Albums chart.

The Eora/Sydney-native metalcore band released their third album, Fatalism, at the start of September (Friday September 1, to be exact) via local indie label Resist Records. The #1 spot was well earned by the band, too, having gone hard in the lead-up to its drop with singles like Inhumane, Nightmare and Overflow.

It also shows a continued growth for Polaris’ local popularity – their debut album (2017’s The Mortal Coil) reached #6 on the main ARIA chart, and its predecessor (2020’s The Death Of Me) came in at #3. In addition to the Top 50 Albums chart, Fatalism came in at #1 on both the Top 20 Australian Albums and Top 20 Vinyl Albums charts.

Polaris learned of their milestone during a flight in to Naarm/Melbourne last Friday (September 8), ahead of their sold-out show at Margaret Court Arena. They followed it up last night (September 10) with a show at Kaurna/Adelaide’s Hindley Street Music Hall (which was also sold out).

The band’s Australian tour – which also features August Burns Red, Kublai Khan and Currents – will wrap up this week with back-to-back shows in Ngambri/Canberra, Awakabal/Newcastle, Meanjin/Brisbane and Eora/Sydney. Head here for more info on the remaining shows.

In a 4.5-star review for Kill Your Stereo, Mary Varvaris wrote that “while Fatalism doesn’t break the mould of heavy music in Australia, it certainly elevates Polaris to new levels”. She continued: “On their third album, we hear a band reach new artistic peaks, perfect their melodies, improve singing from two vocalists, and listen to 11 top-tier tracks we won’t forget anytime soon.”

Fatalism is also notable for being released in memory of Polaris’ late guitarist, Ryan Siew, who died in June at age 26. The band confirmed in July that they would continue in Siew’s honour.