New Camera Lens, we fucking with it?😏

You mentioned Tim's hair. I showed my mate the unplugged version of this song and he's a hairdresser and he was looking at that haircut like we look at his playing lol, he was so impressed.

So Polyphia started out as basically a metalcore band with lots of “shred” guitar, then they started to get more electronic vibes on “Renaissance” which added to the atmosphere of their songs. On their EP, The Most Hated, they started to really incorporate trap/hip-hop style drums which I’ll admit took me some time to get used to because it was a precursor for what was to come next… Then they released the first single “G.O.A.T.” for their 2018 album, New Levels New Devils”. That was the song that made me realize what they were really aiming for, using the guitar/bass/drum formula to make trap rap/pop songs that groove but also incorporate great musicianship. GOAT is basically a song where each member gets to freestyle a verse in rap but its really a solo on their instruments. I would recommend checking out in order “Inspire” then “Champagne” then “Euphoria” then “40oz” then “GOAT” then “Yas” then “So Strange” That will show you their musical progress.

Tim Henson is popular on social media which is what most reactors see and just think he’s the feature but in terms of skill both Tim and Scott Lepage (the other lead guitarist) are equals in terms of their proficiency. Also worth noting the two Clays, Clay Aeschlimann on drums and Clay Gober on Bass are absolute monsters at their instruments and their parts. This song in particular was inspired by the fans. Tim Henson did a few videos reacting to fans covering their super popular song called GOAT (check it out if haven’t yet it’s awesome) and when Tim saw the fans covering GOAT on acoustic guitar he said he wants lessons from him and then proceeded to play this on nylon strings with Scott Lepage following suit. Also after about a minute and a half into the song “Playing God”, there’s a genre switch into bossanova. Overall, no they don’t have a vocalist, occasionally on some tracks they will feature some other artist that might do vocals but as a band they are instrumental progressive rock band. All of them are masters at their instruments and due to Tim’s unique look and his engagement on social media, the masses recognize him the most over the others. Social media engagement is obviously not a metric of skill on guitar so don’t confuse that as him being better than the rest. They all compliment each other musically and elevate each other to the apex of the prog rock scene. Tim incorporates a lot of hip hop and trap into their songs and even their most popular song GOAT is primarily inspired by a Jaden Smith song. A few other tracks of theirs that really highlight their skill would be probably OD, Goose, and their entire “New Levels, New Devils” album is a testament to their evolution in skill in music as a band. Hope you enjoyed it, mostly Polyphia is a musician’s band showcasing the upper limits of what a musician can achieve. For the casual listener some require lyrics which is fine but Polyphia isn’t that kind of band. Check out the other tracks they are incredible.

The instruments speak for themselves personally I don't think they need vocals or lyrics because they are a genre of their own

The most technical band that’s 100% grounded in melody.

Unprocessed is also pretty damn technical

As someone who doesn’t understand the technical stuff behind music, this is my favorite song right now and I don’t want any vocals because it feels as honest and raw as breathing just the way it is

They have "Look But Don't Touch", which comes with a vocal featuring (can't remember his name right now) The song is PRETTY cool and it's heavier than 75% of their work (and btw the music video is SOOOOO funny) I think you should check it out

bro your mix iS SOOOO CLEEEEEEAN, the way your voice sits in the video behind the music brings more attention to the song's details, haven't heard this kind of audio mix from many other youtubers! Edit: also like that you listened toi the song a few times to get a good feel for it and digest it a bit!

The debut album from Animals as Leaders is over a decade old. It is still to me the most action packed, imaginative, exciting attack of fretboard firepower in this genre. It is ripped to the tits with soaring melodies and titanic sized Meshuggah grooves. Everything often explodes and expands with captivating excitement, then theres lush, chilled vibes like this track here. Jaysus lad, "Inemorata". THAT is a superb combo of technique and explosive riff orientated storytelling that leads to a cinematic sized finale.

In terms of the vocalist thing - I felt the same when I first started listening to Polyphia. I was sort of bored to a degree outside of the amazing instrumental... but now after going back and listening to some slightly older stuff and then coming back to the new I kind of like them having no vocalist. I think that makes them stand out oddly enough. I am a little biased because I really enjoy instrumental work but honestly I think the vocals for Polyphia are the catchy tunes you end up whistling in the shower or when you're making breakfast.

Drew: "Who is cooler than Tim Henson?" Scott Lepage 3 seconds later: ******

Check them Animals as Leaders if u wanna more tech

its really great seeing your react to all of these bands for the first time! maybe someday youll get to the point where you can appreciate the appeal of bands like lorna shore as well!

I'd say the new Animals as Leaders is beyond this in a purely technical way...but Tim's just got them vibesss

For me Polyphia do a great job capturing your attention even without vocals. Yeah, they have great technique but the reason why I listen to them all the time is their melodic quality and variety and the way they keep introducing new elements without being overwhelming

Another super technical band that has a similar vibe to Polyphia is Unprocessed. They're actually touring with Polyphia this year.

Great reaction. Love the commentary.

Their last album (New levels new devils) has had an unmeasured impact on the instrumental guitar scene, critically acclaimed and the reason they are where they are, I'd start there and work back 🇮🇪

I loved their Reinssance album. Saw them live a few years ago and the moshing was silly ridiculous. They encrouaged it but I was confused how people would mosh to this 😂. But they can really groove it out. Crush, Euphoria, and GOAT are good ones

Here I am in Plano TX just now discovering them! Love having a back catalog to explore!

tim handsome is beyond levels of my understanding, ive been playing for 13 years and i feel so so many levels below

They are ALL very talented.

Such groove. And I agree on Unprocessed, really young technical band, they also have a featuring song with Polyphia

About time you listened to some instrumental prog like this LOL. As I stated in a previous video comment section this is one of my favorite genre's to listen to. New Polyphia is very much influenced by hip hop, jazz fusion, math rock, and a host other genre's, Tim Henson is one of my favorite guitarists as well haha. Old Polyphia I might like even more than new, not as hip hop influenced, but the lead work is incredible, it's really pretty hard to describe their older sound on album Renaissance backward, just more of an overtly prog rock sound if anything I'd say, Nightmare is a must listen track. For more like this, check out Covet (similar a bit to Polyphia but much more soothing and relaxing overall), Intervals (more of a djenty sound, the one I think you'll like the most), Plini (the guitarist with some of the best guitar articulution I've ever heard, his old stuff is more djent influenced, his new stuff is more jazz fusion influenced). Don't wanna overwhelm with lots so that should be enough... for now lol.

animals as leaders is polyphia, minus the trap, plus more metal. the woven web is my fav from them but their latest album is DEFINITELY WORTH THE LISTEN, as they just dropped it 1 or 2 months ago

Seeing Polyphia this summer! Def check out G.O.A.T. and O.D. by them as well, couple of their most popular tunes. If you are digging the instrumental vibe, Intervals is pretty sick too.

spanish being corrected to portuguese when bossa nova is brazilian just made me lose it lol

Unprocessed is another super technical band and they have done tracks with Tim and their bassist Clay. Unprocessed also has killer vocals.

More technical would be The Aristocrates with Guthrie Govanon guitar , Bryan Beller on bass, and Marco Minnemann on the drums, please check them out ! and what kind of headphones do you use i broke mine and looking for some recommendations, thank you !

Yay this makes me so happy

Animals as Leaders is the most technical band I've heard.

I'm SO GLAD you pulled up the video 😅 you have to check out G.O.A.T.

3:41 the thing on the fret board you meant were the inlays (they're used to quickly tell on which fret you are) and these ones are called tree of life inlays

I love how Clay's just like "Yea I only play 10 notes in this song but I'm gonna fuckin play the shit out of em" xD

I would highly suggest The Helix Nebula for some incredible prog instrumental stuff. Their EP "Meridian" is an absolute classic at this point, and I don't say that lightly. They have 2 incredible playthrough videos

6:06, im not sure if they're more technical, but Ichika Nito has his own band named "Dios".

Tim Henson's has successfully transitioned into the cool anime dude that pushes his glasses up and the girls faint.

This is probably my song of the year right now but I’m with you on the comments about instrumentals and their ability to keep interest. You gotta check out Unprocessed because its basically the Polyphia vibe with vocals added. Deadrose and Candyland are my recommendations. I just found your channel from the Northlane and Thornhill reactions and honestly Unprocessed is up there with them as my fav bands in the scene.

The new album will be out when it will be out. We've been waiting for couple of years now, but I think they didn't want to release it during covid because couldn't tour. Maybe it's out later this year, maybe not. We'll just have to wait. But it will be worth the wait.

Polyphia has enough ideas going on to keep me interested, which is what makes a good instrumental for me. if you want a similarly technical band with vocals, check out Sokoninaru.

Your opinions make sense. Different listeners latch onto different aspects of songs. I can listen to instrumental music all day if it has heavy Meshuggah type grooves, but I become uninterested in prog lead-guitar driven music. All comes down to personal taste! I also have a soft spot for banger vocal choruses, whether it comes from Chevelle or a top 20 pop radio song.

The bass player from Polyphia guest solos in a band called The Omnific, song is called "Antecedent". I think he even went on tour with them this past year. Anyways, in the video they did a fairly genius "pandemic style" guest solo approach. I think they made the video during the height of the pandemic. They are from Australia (lockdown Central) so you know they had to improvise. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mdViqc-E2pirn6s.html

I have a playlist of only Polyphia Songs without Vocals... Vocals would hurt this song.

Hahahahahaha I was sittin here thinking why weren't you watching the video too 🤣

Flames 🔥

Check out Jason Richardson, he has done couple of collabs with polyphia and Tim Henson separately. I personally recommend "Upside Down".

What a coincidence I was just searching for reactions to this specific song

I don't mind lacking a vocalist, but that might be my musical upbringing. My father didn't really enjoy much music written after the 1800's so I was brought up with symphonies, chamber music, opera etc. In high school and through college when I started exploring more music I was really into European instrumentalists (Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, Jean Michele Jarre, etc). I enjoy music with vocalists (I'm a member of a local amateur chorus), as well as purely instrumentalist music. But that is the great thing about music. There is so much diversity that there is something there for everyone. I cast no shade at you preferring music with vocalists. I recently discovered Polyphia (by way of Moyun's Guzheng cover of Playing God) and after listening to many of their songs I find my self humming this one a day later. I find the subject in this song to be such an ear worm.

You should check out OMNIFIC. They're also instrumental and consist of 2 bass players and a drummer. The first tune I heard was called "Wax and Wane" and it really is a chest pounder (if you have a good sound system). Put that in your pipe and smoke it! 😎🫀🧠🫁🦻💣💥💯👊👍👀👽🤯

Subscribed because your cute as heckkk and have good tasteeee, win-win! I clicked the video for the reaction , then I saw your face and was like "Handsome Harry Potter!!!" haha

When you say 3 does it sound like tree 🌲? Love that 😊

Instrumental music is often made for other musicians. Which can be bad or good depending on how you look at it. It’s a mood thing for me

the only sentient being cooler that Tim Henson existing at this point in time is the nylon acoustic guitar in between his hands

So when we budding guitar players saw Yngwie Malmsteen and Allan Holdsworth for the first time, we were tempted to just give it up. You generation of guitarists feel the same way when you see Polyphia or any number of insanely gifted musicians on the internet. The thing is that not everyone is gifted and not everyone has the mindset to practice ten hours a day. For the rest of us, it is just so fulfilling to be able to entertain oneself with one's instrument. I so love playing guitar for nobody but me and have been doing so for forty years. Never let the gifted folk discourage you from having fun with your instrument.

I heard that purely instrumental songs/groups are usually appealing only to other musicians but what's so great about polyphia is that they're appealing to everyone and I couldn't agree more with that.

Love your reactions, my only suggestion is maybe bump up the volume of the song whenever you talk. We tryna jam the song with you

Broooooooo. Polyphia is your new favorite band. You gotta do Euphoria next

You've heard of Archspire? Crazy band they are, every single member is an absolue beast; if you're looking for technicality, you'll probably love them! Golden Mouth Of Ruin is a new song of them that I can only recommend

ah yeah, unprocessed too. their latest album has soooo many bangers. i suggest watch the abandoned video and the fear video both from unprocessed

Great new song!!!

First Fragment, Ophidian I, or Archspire are about as tech as it gets for mainstream-ish death metal right now imo, but as others have mentioned already Animals as Leaders is the most tech you'll find in a similar vein to Polyphia (instrumental, vibe-y). CHON and Plini are good choices too, though more vibe-y and a bit less tech focused.

Came for the song, stayed for the TesseracT posters. cheers!

they sell the tabs on their website.

I think most people would agree a couple other more technical bands are Animals As Leaders, and Archspire. Archspire is probably not your style, but they're the fastest, most technical, most extreme, while still being catchy and accessible. They're technical death metal, also they have a solid sense of humor along with their skill, almost skin to classical music at times.

I love how most musicians inspire people to learn and play. Polyphia makes musicians just give up internally knowing they won't achieve their technical ability or be able to arrange music the way they can.

Jason Richardson & Luke Holland - poombachu I'd say they are more technical overall, they even have a song with Tim Henson in it. Or anything by Animals as Leaders pretty much. Physical education is a good song by them, kaleidoscope, or ectogenesis are good too. Ichika nito - Awakened is a good display of guitar technique. Manuel Gardner from the band Unprocessed is very skilled as well so Unprocessed is worth checking out. Or if you want something different, there's an acoustic guitar vs electric guitar video featuring Ichika and Marcin

Not the most technical but probably the best in terms of style blending and making technical playing accessible to almost any ear hole.

Technical on different levels but Sylosis are super technical. Lead singer and guitarist josh Middleton is also the lead guitarist of architects. Empyreal is sweeping masterclass, but most of their discography is very technical melodic thrash metal. He won the best guitarist award in the last year for a reason!

The best polyphia with vocals song imo is babymetal brand new day. I think her voice works great with their guitar style.

You should check out Berried Alive. Charles is a fucking monster on the guitar (imo the most skilled guitarist in the world atm)

So Strange features the vocalist Cuco. Look But Don’t Touch features Lewis Grant. Only those two so far.

Who needs lyrics when you have godly guitars

Hey Bro. Noticed you asked for a track with vocals and I haven't seen anyone mention any yet. I'm a little late but check out ABC - Polyphia ft Sophia Black. This has vocals

If you want vocals in a Polyphia song, simply watch "Look, but Don't Touch." It's a wild ride of a video... lol

6:00 there is ichika nito and tosin abasi who's technically skilled like these guys. Check them out.

G.O.A.T……. is still mind blowing to me. All these years on. Take a 🎧

Go whatch the unplugged version. Him alone. Sick.

Dude listen to Void of Vision last EP!!!! They have this techno electronic metal sound, like Northlane but with his own style.

I’ve heard people say they prefer music with vocals. It’s just personal preference. Personally I like instrumentals a lot lot, sometimes even more than music with vocals, however it has to be made well.

Def check out plini super technical and unique

Camera, top notch. As far as tehchnical bands. Animals As Leaders are the only ones that can really compare. Then come the really complicated tech-metal bands, which are pretty hard to listen to, like Archspire, and the such. Try the song Abandoned by Unprocessed. Not at the same level, but quite ''techie.''

Mate, I love polyphia, but check put arch echo as well absolutely amazing band, absolute titans. Check out immediate results or red letter.

Would love to hear your reaction to Dirty loops “Follow the light”. Super technical but in a different way and with an incredible vocalist. Check it out

Should watch Tim Henson play it unplugged in 1 take. Bananas

Another technical band is Dirty Loops, but I don't think they're quite as technical as Polyphia. Nice review

Random comment here: I went to middle school with the bassist, Clay Gober 😅 Arlington High!

My friend’s brother knows the guys in Polyphia and I’ve only heard that they are some of the nicest guys in the scene.

Animals as leaders are freaking amazing too, both Polyphia and Animals as leaders have kinda the same vives, or not same but sure similar

You want technical with vocals……………DIRTY LOOPS! Start with "Work Shit Out" and then go nuts with the rest of their catalog stretching back to, I believe, 2011. You can thank me later ;-)

You should definitely react to GOAT and OD by Polyphia and I also recommend checking out Blood Moon by Tim

Nobody knows about tye new album. In October of 2020 Tim said the new album would be out in 2021. So a year and a half later, we're still hoping. Lol

Definitely check out We came as Romans ft. Brand of sacrifice- Darkbloom reimagined. It's right up your alley

New Levels New Devils album reaction??

So Strange by Polyphia features a vocalist

Tim looks like an anime irl 😂

I knew I wasn’t the only one who thought his hair looks dope lol

Polyphia just makes me feel like im wearing a gucci suit even tho I barely have a tenner in the bank 😎😅

I'm pretty sure Tim is actually a Anime character.... basically if Spike Spiegel played guitar.