Polyphia – New Levels New Devils

Polyphia is a band that specializes in instrumentals with no vocals whatsoever and not too long ago I wasn’t all too thrilled about that kind of music unless it was classical in a sense, but this album alone turned me onto that world of music. The band firstly used their talents for the metal genre but very recently since this album came out they’ve transitioned into Math Rock, a genre that is heavily dominated by bands that only do instrumentals, and as the name might suggest it’s the most intensive in terms execution. Math Rock is named the way it is because it uses odd time signatures and the like to produce sounds that you would think are superhuman, ESPECIALLY if you watch videos of Math Rock. Math Rock is no joke! And neither is this album!

Although I say this is a Math Rock album, it is far more as it utilizes different sounds to be as creative as could be and leave a lasting impression on your mind. The first song is “Nasty” and that’s exactly what it is, filled with riffs and chords that make you think how absolutely nasty the song is, in a good way. Afterwards is “O.D” and it’s just as hard hitting as every other song in this album EXCEPT for one, but we’ll get to it later on. Before moving forward, most of these songs are kinda titled in a straightforward manner but its fun and playful in a sense. Now although the first thing you’ll notice in these batch of songs are the bass and guitar, the drum is pulling its weight if you really home in on it. At the end of the song it comes in with this fun Trap inspired hi-hat closure just to remind you that there are drums. Further down the listing is “Saucy” and it has such a memorable guitar riff that you can’t NOT enjoy. I feel like this song is much more focused on that guitar so it’s a bit easier to appreciate it as such. Next is “Yas” which I believe was the single that blew them up and is their most popular song. It features some sampled vocals and is probably one of the more laid back pieces whiles still giving you an instrumental kick. I’ve grown a bit tired of it but its still quite good. The song that comes afterwards… is “So Strange,” a song which can ruin the entire album… Up to this point I’ve never had any strong opinions about songs I didn’t like in albums I’ve enjoyed, but this song really can ruin the album. Firstly, this is the only song in the album that had vocals in it, though I wouldn’t call them vocals, more so squealing and they just don’t belong in such a hard hitting album. Second, the instrumentals just don’t even compare to everything else in the album as they’re too soft and have little impact and they alone can’t redeem the song from the vocals. Now moving on from that is my favorite song in the album, “Rich Kids.” I would describe “Rich Kids” just as I described “Yas,” but REALLY laid back with the instrumentation to back it up. The chorus is really fun and I’m probably biased towards the song because of the person featured on it, Yvette Young. Not really attached to her in any meaningful way but she was the first person I watched play Math Rock and show how complicated it can be. Finally! The last song is “G.O.A.T” and the song really is as it advertises. It closes the album out extremely nicely while being able to stand up to all the heavy hitters in the LP. This album I’d say is an absolute MUST to listen to if your a Rock fan, with the exception of the one song mention earlier.