The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die - Harmlessness

Emo Revival Leaders Create A Life-Affirming Masterpiece Of A Record

The World Is a Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die are an emo revival band, who really gained commercial and critical success in the emo revival scene after their 2013 debut album 'Whenever, If Ever', after the overwhelming praise for this album, constant rotations in the line-up (Including the loss of lead vocalist Thomas Diaz) and a string of average at best EP's, there was a real worry that Twiabp wouldn't be able to live up to the high standards set by their stunning debut.

But the Connecticut nine-piece have totally smashed expectations and, with 'Harmlessness', have created an album that is engaging from start to finish, with every song bringing in something fresh and exciting to listen to and has surpassed previous record 'Whenever, If Ever' in every way possible. With original lead vocalist, Thomas Diaz gone, David Bello has stepped forward to take the reigns, which is something I'm very happy about, as much as I enjoyed their previous album, I felt that sometimes the overuse of Diaz's emo whines made the album drag on towards the end and became rather dull. Hearing Bello's much stronger voice was always a breath of fresh air to me, and continues to be in this record. But Bello is not alone on the vocal front, he is accompanied by keyboardist/vocalist, Kate Shanholtzer-Dvorak, who also has a much bigger role on this album.

Bello and Shanholtzer work together perfectly on this album and create an amazing balance in their vocal sound and the emotions they deliver. The track that they really shine in is lead single 'January 10th 2014' a track which is beautifully introduced to us by interlude, 'blank #11'. 'January 4th 2014' presents the story of Diana, the Hunter Of Bus Drivers, the lyrics in this song are controversial yet delivered so stunningly and engaging. The instrumental support on this track is also immense, all four guitarists playing their own part to the stories yet working together so elegantly whilst Steve Butterey controls the tempo changes to pinpoint perfection on the drums. My words simply can't do this masterpiece of a track justice, you have to listen to this song to truly believe it's beauty.

The instrumentals are a key part throughout all of this album, showing off a very strong post-rock style, and by mixing this with their usual formula of massive emotional instrumentals building to a huge climax they've managed to completely raise the bar in the emo revival genre and surpass the heights of their previous effort. The World Is' musicians have worked wonders on this record, making what could just be a generic indie-pop song, 'The Word Lisa', and playing around with it instrumentally to create that unique, dreamy sound that you'd expect from classic Twiabp. Another instrumental success in this track, has to be the low-fi opener, 'You Can't Live There Forever' which begins with a very mellow, teen suicide-like, opening. Although the general sound of the vocals and instrumentals sound very toned down in this opener, it still manages to build to a grand finish, beginning with the introduction of acoustic guitars and violins, before the drums become more prominent, with keyboardist/vocalist Kate Shanholtzer-Dvorak harmonizing alongside the instrumentals.

The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die have a record that is nothing short of a masterpiece, every track contributes amazingly to the record's epic climax. I was left speechless by the end of this work of art.

10/10 

EMO / POST-ROCK / MEME-ROCK

FAV TRACKS: You Can't Live There Forever - January 4th 2014 - The Word Lisa

LEAST FAV TRACKS: Shitty Greg

Bring Me The Horizon - That's The Spirit

Sheffield Rockers Take On A More Electronic-Lead Sound With An Alt Metal Edge

Over the past 10 years, Steel City based quintet, Bring Me The Horizon have transformed from angst filled teens making scrappy deathcore, to the more mature sounding metalcore on their last 2 records. But with their latest release, 'That's The Spirit', the Sheffield group has completely moved away from their old sounds, opting for a more electronic driven, stadium rock sound.

Whilst Bring Me's last two albums were full to the brim of sheer aggression and hard-hitting breakdowns, their new record demonstrates their flawless ability of making huge, stadium anthems, like opening track 'Doomed' which builds from a mellow, synth lead opening into an absolutely massive chorus, lead by Oli Sykes' harsh vocals. 'That's The Spirit' is packed with Linkin Park-Sized choruses that are driven by the fierce and unforgiving guitars, and the atmospheric edge provided by the synths, the only tracks that take a more mellow approach are the R&B sounding 'Follow You' and album closer 'Oh No', which bring some serious Panic! At The Disco vibes with it. 

Bring Me The Horizon still show that even though the metallic sound has been toned down, they still know how to make a brilliant heavy track or two. The verses in lead single 'Happy Song' strongly resemble early Deftones, before building up to a grungy chorus and an ending which features throat shredding vocals from Oli Sykes. 'Throne' shows how perfectly the guitars and synth can gel together, throughout the whole track they flawlessly work off each other, to create a heavy and contrasting sound.

Bring Me The Horizon have managed to once again managed to dilate their style, and with their latest album, have established themselves as a strong sounding anthem churning rock band. Although a lot of fans my miss the breakdown days of 'Suicide Season', the more open minded bunch can appreciate the talented men they've become today. Right now it seems Bring Me The Horizon might just be the biggest rock band in the world.

9/10

ALTERNATIVE ROCK / ELECTRONIC ROCK 

FAV TRACKS: Doomed - Happy Song - Throne - Avalanche
LEAST FAV TRACKS: Oh No

FIDLAR - Too

LA Punk's Show New Found Maturity Within Their Punk Rock Lifestyle

FIDLAR are definitely one of the more interesting bands in the modern punk genre, they've very much solidified themselves as a band who sing about drugs, drinking and fucking up life one step at a time. Their self-titled debut was jam-packed with great, all be it one-dimensional, skate and garage punk anthems, featuring songs with noisy guitars and loud angsty vocals like opener 'Cheap Beer' and main single 'Cocaine', to the more mellow tracks that still stay true to FIDLAR's mantra for example 'Paycheck' or the passive aggressive closing track 'Awkward'. FIDLAR's debut definitely gave the LA boys the attention they deserve, and after an incredible main stage slot at Reading and Leeds 2015 the band have a lot of new fans eager to listen to their latest record.

'Too' shows a very distinctive maturity in FIDLAR's sound, 'West Coast' is a song packing serious summer vibes and pop-punk style lyrics about wanting to leave the typical suburban hell and 'Why Generation' is very much about fitting in today's society, whilst ironically sounding like its been pulled out of 70's California. The band still have plenty of tracks that support their "Fuck it" lifestyle, 'Bad Habits' is one of those that was more of a disappointment, its a track where Zac Carper rants on about all his drug and alcohol problems and what it's doing to him, and for once it's a typical FIDLAR song that, sadly, is quite boring, and the attempt to be funny with the line "Oh My God I'm Becoming My Dad" doesn't redeem anything at all, even if it is the band implying that youth doesn't last forever.

'Sober' is a great example of  how FIDLAR can try out a new style whilst still keeping their personality intact, proving to everyone who knows them that they always succeed in staying original and true to themselves. My favorite track on this album is without a doubt 'Punks' I don't know if this is a homage to their oldest of fans or if they just re-recorded this track for the shits, but somehow they've managed to give this track even more energy, even more fury and even more of that "Fuck It Dog Life's A Risk" attitude than the original 2012 recording 'The Punks Are Finally Taking Acid'.

'Too' definitely shows a huge change from their 2013 debut, the group have matured a lot in that time, and while some of the more mature songs might have turned fans away, it's definitely impressed the vast majority. And while no one can truly say for certain what they'll do next, we all know FIDLAR will be very vocal on whatever it may be.

8/10

GARAGE PUNK / PUNK /POP-PUNK

FAV TRACKS: West Coast - Sober - Punks
LEAST FAV TRACKS: Bad Habits