World Be Free

The Anti-Circle

Written by: PP on 22/02/2016 22:04:54

World Be Free is a new hardcore supergroup with an all-star lineup featuring Scott Vogel (Terror) on vocals, Joe Garlipp (envy) and Andrew Kline (Strife) on guitars, Arthur Smilios (Gorilla Biscuits) on bass, and Sammy Siegler (Judge / Rival Schools) on drums. It's an interesting mix of musicians whose primary daytime job is writing angry and pissed off hardcore tunes that ravage the problems of the social and political world (with the exception of envy). World Be Free was formed as a positive counterpart to this mental and sonic attitude, instead relishing on old school/mid-90s punk rock both in terms of attitude as well as sound, of which debut album "The Anti-Circle" is a good example. Stylistically, it lands right in between the clean vocal hardcore of H2O, the melodic 90s punk of Face To Face, and "Punk In Drublic"-era NOFX guitar riffs, giving off an inspirational and upbeat vibe, unlike nothing we've heard from the members in their own bands in the past.

With raw, unpolished old school punk/hardcore hybrid atmosphere, the record kicks off with a relatively angry opening track "World Be Free", but hereafter we hear especially Scott Vogel in a completely different light. With references to Good Clean Fun and H2O vocally at the same time, Vogel no longer barks and yells his way through the songs, instead relying on a clean, albeit scratchy style. It's a refreshing change and one that fits atop the buzzing guitar riffs perfectly. "Sammy's Mirror" even has a NOFX sample as its intro melody, if the raw distortion and early 90s style melodies weren't clues enough. The songs may not lose the fist-pump inducing high-energy onslaught of hardcore outright, but are surprisingly catchy and even sing-alongable at times.

Breakneck speed riffage dominates alongside loosely played skate punk riffs and occasional screeching solos that constantly push all the right buttons if you grew up with 90s punk bands, which is paradoxically both the strength and the weakness of this record. On one hand, the 90s style punk rock was raw, devoid of compromise with pop elements or other stylistical infiltrations, giving it a real feeling and an organic atmosphere. But on the other, the sound appears slightly dated when coming from a new band. H2O can pull it off, but as we saw on "Use Your Voice" last year, it only goes so far in the modern punk scene. Here, World Be Free create an admirable throwback to the 90s that will surely appeal to genre purists and the more historically-oriented fans alike, but the question is whether the 30 minutes or so slab of two-minute punk rock songs has enough quality packed within to appeal to a wider segment. The attitude and energy are in the right place, however, and anyone curious to hear Vogel and company in a totally different environment from their main bands will find lots to like here.

7

Download: Never Slip, Empty Things, I'm Done
For the fans of: H2O, NOFX, 7Seconds, Wisdom In Chains, Face to Face, Good Clean Fun
Listen: Facebook

Release date 05.02.2016
Revelation Records

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