Fatalism (album)

Fatalism is the third studio album by Australian metalcore band Polaris. The band produced and recorded the album in Melbourne in 2022 with Lance Prenc engineering and Alpha Wolf guitarist Scottie Simpson on vocal recording duties. The album was released on 1 September 2023 under Resist Records and SharpTone Records. It is the band's final album with lead guitarist Ryan Siew, after his death on 19 June 2023, with his recordings completed beforehand and released posthumously.

At the 2023 J Awards, the album was nominated for Australian Album of the Year.

The album was nominated for the 2023 Australian Music Prize.

At the AIR Awards of 2024, the album was nominated for Best Independent Heavy Album or EP.

Background
The first single from Polaris' then-upcoming album was "Inhumane", released on 26 May 2023. The band was performing the European leg of their ten-year anniversary tour until 20 June when Polaris announced the cancellation of the tour due to a personal crisis, which was announced on 27 June to be Ryan Siew's death at the age of 26 on 19 June. No cause of death was revealed. 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 in a statement, "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." The album's second single, "Nightmare", was released later that week on 26 July.

On 24 August, the band released the album's third single, and last before the album's release, "Overflow".

On 27th January 2024, "Nightmare", the album's second single, placed at 90th in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2023.

On 10 May 2024, the band announced the album's fourth single, "Dissipate", which was accompanied by a live music video filmed at Margaret Court Arena on September 9, 2023, during the Australian leg of the Fatalism tour.

Tour
On 31 May 2023, the band announced a tour for September 2023 in support of the album, featuring bands August Burns Red, Kublai Khan and Currents.

Personnel
Polaris
 * Daniel Furnari – drums
 * Jamie Hails – vocals
 * Rick Schneider – rhythm guitar
 * Jake Steinhauser – bass, vocals
 * Ryan Siew – lead guitar

Additional personnel
 * Lance Prenc – engineering, mixing, mastering
 * Scottie Simpson – vocal recording