Polyphia’s most recent song and video, for their 2016 track “Lit,” kicks off in a manner similar to that of many instrumental shred bands—with the camera showing the...
Polyphia’s most recent song and video, for their 2016 track “Lit,” kicks off in a manner similar to that of many instrumental shred bands—with the camera showing the group’s two guitarists, Tim Henson and Scott LePage, simultaneously picking out a twisty, fleet-fingered repeating harmony lick high up on the necks of their guitars.
But within seconds, the tune veers off into unusual territory—the percussion track lights up with electronic burbles, twinkling keyboards and sampled sounds poke through the mix, and the guitars are chopped and cut with EDM-style hiccups. Visually, meanwhile, a young man who is the focal point of the video dances along to the almost poppy rhythm as various shapes and colors radiate off his body.
All the while, Henson and LePage, who, in the clip at least, look like they’d be more at home in a new-millennium boy band than a metal-tinged instrumental act, rip out virtuosic runs and solos full of lightning-fast licks, whammy bar flutters and liquid harmony lines. It’s an unusual approach to shred, though one that has over the last few years led the Texas-based outfit to become one of the sub-genre’s brightest new stars.
To date, Polyphia, which also currently includes bassist Clay Gober and drummer Clay Aeschliman, have racked up millions of YouTube views for their various videos and guitar playthrough clips and shared stages with the likes of Periphery, Animals As Leaders, Between the Buried and Me and August Burns Red.
They’ve also released two full-length albums, 2014’s Muse and 2016’s Renaissance, that, in terms of the bright, often major-key melodies and slippery, cleanly picked shred lines, recall the sort of sound made famous by players like Joe Satriani and, at times, Steve Vai. At the same time, in the music’s incorporation of decidedly non-rock elements,