Polyphia - Ego Death (featuring Steve Vai) (Metalheads React)

I've watched almost every Polyphia reaction and this is the first mention of Prince, which is a vibe I've been thinking they have.

The trumpet is part of the theme of the album. Take a listen.

they are all endorsed by Ibanez, Scott's pointy guitar is a Xyphos. Tim and Scott are playing 7 strings tuned a whole step down, since the song is in Dm. 7 string guitars don't commonly have two truss rods, that's usually reserved for 8 or 9 string guitars, but the 5 piece neck is definitely more common with all extended range guitars for stability. the semi-acoustic guitars in the beginning are actually nylon-string, there's an interesting story about how Tim basically revived that Ibanez model, it launched in the 90's and failed due to lack of interest. also your observations about the chord progression are spot on, Polyphia is known for bringing technical playing and progressive-metal styles to very common and catchy chord progressions, mixing with pop and trap music for broad appeal. it's definitely thinning the boundaries between genres and showing alot of people music they'd not have given a chance otherwise. good reaction, love your observations.

This song is such an earworm for me right now..and I'm jumping reaction to reaction to relisten.. Bringing Vai for a feature was such a heart-warming thing polyphia could have done...

Ego Death is the last track on the album, the first track featured Brasstracks (the trumpet player) so they put him at the end of the last song to wrap up the album in a way I think

The drummer came from a drum line background. You can hear that influence if you're familiar with it.

Technically proficient is an understatement 😂 but yea. The boys thump like tosin, hybrid pick and traditional pick, sometimes mixing all styles in one song. Give their catalogue a shot, these guys are extraordinary.

nerd reporting for duty. Long hair is Scott LePage, short hair is Tim Henson, Bassist is Clay Gober, drummer is Clay Aeschliman idk about the clays but tim and scott are sponsored by ibanez. i'm sure that played some part in helping this collab happen since steve is also sponsored by ibanez, though i've heard rumors that steve became a big fan of polyphia anyway. I don't remember all the details, but there was a tim henson interview with Herman Li over on Herman's twitch channel where tim said he met Vai at a namm show and wouldn't have had the balls to ask for this collab if he hadn't been drinking. As for what else to check out, I'd suggest Playing God, Bloodbath, and The Audacity from this album(remember that you will die), and G.O.A.T., OD, and Yas from the last album (New levels new devils) Honorable mention goes to Look But Don't Touch, an april fools day release.

I agree that this Polyphia song made me think that their music is the culmination of rock music to date. They draw from and express so many different rock genres in their playing. I get chills at every listen to this song.

The trumpeter opens up the album with them in the track Genesis and closes it on this song. Hes called brasstracks.

I think the new guy would love Bloodbath, featuring Chino from Deftones. One of the heaviest/most melodic songs Polyphia has done since LBDT. Scott carries the song, and his solo is inspired by Dimebag Darrell and such. You guys would love the shit out of this song I bet.

One of these men took a fat bong rip and then put in some eye drops before this video. I'll give you a wild guess who lol

the trumpets are layered in starting at Vai's solo, they carry a big part of the melody in the outro bit. at the end, all he's playing is the slow section after scott's solo

Loved writing this song and their latest album with them! I’ll play it with them on 7/19/23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin! I’ll also be releasing my first album that night!

That thumb technique is called thumping and they learned it from Tosin Abasi as it is kind of his signature style.

Funny you should mention the video game music. Check Out Upside Down with Jason Richardson , Luke Holland and Tim Henson from Polyphia

Their early stuff was very heavy. Basically a speed metal almost. Now they have their own sound and is easy to identify but they do mix things up like the nylon guitars on this album. One of my favorites from them is Aviator which is an older album. Features Jason Richardson who has an incredible solo at the end. Shredding yet melodic. As for their audiences I’m 49 and love their music. My 15 year old son loves them too as he is a guitar and bass player. He can’t play much of their stuff yet but he tries!

A lot of newer guitars are going 5 piece and more with double truss rods for added stability.

That's their signature line of Ibanez. You gotta be a badass for a company to just start making an entire line of instruments in your name.

Speaking of cozy metal, I saw a reaction on this by Pete & Vinnie, two British metalheads, and one of them exclaimed "That's a lovely jumper!" XD Can't disagree!