In recent times, “all star-bands” haven’t been particularly remembered for having left a strong impact on the music scene. It could either be cash grabbing projects or some collaborations that allows musicians themselves to just “have a good time”, the result is merely homogenous enough to really hit the spot.

With a large amount of legendary fellas within its ranks, World Be Free sounds like a pretty remarkable and potentially badass all-star jam. Basically, what you get here is none other than Scott Vogel from Terror on vocals, Sammy Siegler from Judge, ex-CIV and Rival Schools on drums, Arthur Smilios from Gorilla Biscuits, also ex-CIV, on bass, Joe Garlipp from Envy (not the Japanese band) and Andrew Kline from Strife on guitars. Add an apparition from Walter Schreifels (Quicksand, Rival Schools, Youth of Today, GB…) and you’ll get a very impressive bill of guys whose previous and active bands didn’t fade out of the spotlight at all.

The band whose moniker refers to an American former professional NBA player, started to craft some tunes together around march 2014 with the intention to produce something close from the classic hardcore tunes they grew up to, while adding a more modern twist. The result being an LP called The Anti-Circle and released via Revelation Records in February 2016.

The whole record barely hits the 28-min mark and, as you could have imagined, it starts real fast with the opening self-titled track, a song that straight up brings us back to the late 80’s, when the sound was raw and authentic. Vogel’s surprisingly comes in and it appears he decided to left the ferocious angry tones you would have imagined coming from him, for a more oddly melodic style. From track to track, it’s still no surprise to hear the team hasn’t really drifted away from their past experiences. Obviously, the unconditional love for hardcore that carries these legends is mainly reflected in the style of music they play. The rhythm is reckless, catchy and old school (‘All These Colors’, ‘Empty Things’). It’s not really modern but it’s fast and energizing enough to sound pretty damn entertaining.

Of course, with a collaboration of such magnitude, you also could easily consider the fact there’s no way to really innovate when you’ve been in such iconic hardcore bands. And it’s partially right. Scott Vogel’s performance is more than decent but seems to be the only distinguishing thing of the record, sound wise. It’s a bit upsetting the other musicians didn’t really stepped out of their comfort zone and it’s pretty much exactly what you think the sum of the different musicians involved could be. Youth Crew inspired anthems and more fast-paced tunes makes this record still a cool achievement. The fact that it’s filled with positive, no-brainer vibes and because it embodies a wide selection of the best classic hardcore elements that can appeal to both older listeners and newer ones, is what makes the listening of The Anti-Circle never a dull moment.

As it appears, World Be Free are very much looking forward to be more than a one-time thing so expect to see them around pretty soon and prepare for some good times.

Track list – The Anti-Circle:

1. World Be Free
2. Shake the Ghost
3. All These Colors
4. Empty Things
5. Never Slip
6. Breakout or Busted
7. The Anti-Circle
8. I’m Done
9. What I See
10. Sammy’s Mirror
11. I Erase You
12. Of My World
13. Promises Made
14. Counting Vices

World Be Free: Bandcamp / Order The Anti-Circle

Written by Alex Tabankia