I liked it quite a bit at first blush. It’s purely instrumental, which historically has been tough for me, but at this point I think I’m pretty decent at enjoying technical guitar instrumental stuff, prog rock type stuff, which this is. It still feels really accessibly structured, too. Likeable riffs, songs that still feel distinct and like their own idea units. I could definitely see myself liking it more with time.
I also think that maybe I have an easier time with instrumental stuff when it’s shorter. Their EP, The Most Hated, is just over 23 minutes and I think that’s probably not an insignificant part of why I liked it as easily as I did. Even when I am engaged and interested in the music, I have a hard time staying that way for longer than half an hour when it’s instrumental. Still working my way up for that, I suppose.
I think generally they got better over time, though it’s a little tricky to tell because that could so easily be me learning to listen to them better over the time—it didn’t feel like a huge shift to me, just a general increase in quality. I admit that my most analogous comparison point I think would be [[Dysmn . 1 . A]]. I know that Polyphia is pretty well known and well regarded in the genre, and Dysmn is almost certainly derivative of it, but that’s how it goes when you just listen to things as they come up. I think my positive reception of Dysmn was in some significant part because of how shiny and new it felt to me, and so it was interesting to hear such similar principles and sounds and feelings coming out of Polyphia but just, better. I don’t think I could say why they were better; I don’t think I’m familiar enough with the genre for it being better to even feel that much different to me—I can definitely tell, but I don’t think I got substantially more enjoyment out of Polyphia than Dysmn, though I could see that changing.
Anyway! All that to say, I like the band. It’s fun, it’s engaging. There’s a raw athleticism that shines through this type of guitar playing that adds a level of satisfaction to everything, there’s a freneticism and pacing that I enjoy, and I just think it sounds good. I don’t think it’s particularly meaningful to me right now, but it’s still a pretty easy A. I’m placing it right above Dysmn because I know for sure I like it better than that and I want that to be clear on what feels like such a direct comparison, but I think it would be more accurate as a lower A. Meaning, Dysmn is certainly rated too highly right now. I’ll work on it, is what it is for now.
Polyphia complete, now listening to: Queen
tunafruitsandwitch 