The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die
Harmlessness
Release Date: Sep 25, 2015
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock
Record label: Epitaph
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Album Review: Harmlessness by The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die
Great, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 4/5
The World is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die.ÂThat band name never gets old. Not a bad philosophy either. I can distinctly remember becoming acquainted and subsequently falling in love with Whenever, If Ever. "Getting Sodas" was the optimistic battle cry against depression. It ….
Based on rating 7.9/10
Emo is a genre built on divisive vocals, and the World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die represented the entire spectrum of such voices on their debut Whenever, If Ever. Between the screamy guy, the yelpy guy, the nervous guy who sang as if sweating through his pocket protector, and the open invitation for anybody else in the band to pipe in whenever they felt it might lend an extra energy to a song, it was a love-it-or-dismiss-it affair, even by the standards of an emo revival that favors messy, overstuffed statements. The eight-piece band may have filtered their updated emo through the sensibilities of some of the most broadly popular indie rock of the '00s, but they were fundamentally a niche act.
Based on rating 7.5/10
The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die may have a word count-friendly name, and more current and past members than words in it, but their music is immediate, catchy, and emotionally direct. With influences firmly in the 2000s emo and indie scenes, including Brand New and Arcade Fire especially, the band uses an expanding and contracting lineup to make huge rock epics. Harmlessness, the band's second album, refines its sound while remaining ambitious enough to enthrall even emo-averse listeners.
Opinion: Absolutly essential
I first met members of The World Is A Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid To Die (World is… or TWIABP as sometimes abbreviated) when they released their debut album Whenever, If Ever and they were on tour supporting the record. They came to a local club and played to about 15 people. About 10 people sitting and watching the performance while the other 5 threw each other in to the next person.
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