Although it doesn’t happen to everyone, it’s often easy to become jaded with hardcore. The longer you have been listening to it, the more you notice cookie-cutter bands that are basically style over substance, and you start to feel that the message has been lost along the way. While there are a handful of bands pushing hardcore in to new areas and keeping things fresh, it’s been a long time since a band has come along that really exudes the true essence of hardcore. Thankfully, with a collective knowledge spanning 30 years, World Be Free are here to do just that with their debut album ‘The Anti-Circle’.
The names of the members that make up World Be Free will be familiar to many, but don’t think of this as some “supergroup”, only here to assert their place in hardcore hierarchy. This is a real band, and one that is getting back to their roots of classic DC hardcore and NYHC, with some members stepping out of their comfort zone. While the rhythm section of Arthur Meow Smilios and Sammy Siegler are no strangers to what World Be Free are doing (having played on many classic releases in their careers), Andrew Kline of Strife, and Joe Garlipp of Envy are known for much heavier hardcore. The biggest difference is the direction taken by vocalist Scott Vogel on ‘The Anti-Circle’. Applying a more melodic approach, his vocals are a world away from what we are used to hearing from him in Terror.
Understandably, there was always going to be some hype around World Be Free given their respective backgrounds. However, as you listen through the fourteen tracks that make up ‘The Anti-Circle’, you realise that this has all the makings of a classic hardcore record. From the opening track ‘World Be Free’, through the anthemic ‘Shake The Ghost’, and the punchy hooks of ‘Breakout Or Busted’ you feel they have truly captured the zeitgeist of hardcore’s defining albums. It gives you goose bumps like ‘Start Today’ by Gorilla Biscuits, and carries the same intensity as ‘Can I Say’ by Dag Nasty. It feels only right that the album is released on the prestigious Revelation Records, as it sits perfectly amongst their back catalogue.
Where as many hardcore bands nowadays choose to opt for a clear cut, and polished sound, World Be Free have tried to keep things as pure as possible. Far from sounding raw, the album keeps a sense of urgency about it, most noticeably in the vocals. The points where it is imperfect on ‘I’m Done’ – which also features an appearance from Walter Schriefels, add a certain charm to ‘The Anti-Circle’. Carrying on tradition, you can tell in the arrangement of the songs that these are purpose built for live performances. ‘Of My World’, and the closing track ‘Counting Vices’ are likely to ignite audiences, and incite countless stage dives. The production matches this, giving ‘The Anti-Circle’ a live vibe that is missing on so many records today.
While ‘The Anti-Circle’ doesn’t reinvent the wheel, this is not the intention of World Be Free, and the wheel is perfectly fine as it is. Sometimes it just needs a reminder to keep spinning from time to time, which is exactly what this record does. By taking from the past, World Be Free have shown their importance in the present, and ‘The Anti-Circle’ is exactly what hardcore needed right now.
GLEN BUSHELL