Illusory Walls

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Illusory Walls
The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Illusory Walls.png
Studio album by
The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die
ReleasedOctober 8, 2021
Genre
Length70:25
LabelEpitaph
Producer
  • Chris Teti
  • Greg Thomas
The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die chronology
Always Foreign
(2017) 		Illusory Walls
(2021)
Singles from Illusory Walls
  1. "Invading the World of the Guilty as a Spirit of Vengeance"
    Released: August 3, 2021[2]
  2. "Queen Sophie for President"
    Released: September 1, 2021[3]
  3. "Trouble"
    Released: October 5, 2021[4]

Illusory Walls is the fourth studio album by American emo band the World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die, released October 8, 2021, by Epitaph Records.[2] The name of the album, as well as the lead single "Invading the World of the Guilty as a Spirit of Vengeance", is inspired by the video game series Dark Souls.[2][5] It is the band's first album since the departure of guitarist-vocalists Tyler Bussey and Dylan Balliett and the death of founding member Tom Diaz.[6]

Reception[]

Illusory Walls ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8/10[7]
Metacritic82/100[8]
Review scores
SourceRating
Beats Per Minute83/100[5]
Exclaim!9/10[9]
No Ripcord7/10[10]
Pitchfork6.8/10[11]
Slant Magazine[1]
Sputnikmusic4.7/5[12]

Illusory Walls received positive reviews from critics noted at review aggregator Metacritic. It has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 6 reviews.[8] Beats Per Minute's Rob Hakimian said that 20-minute closing track "Fewer Afraid" is "a perfect way to underline an album so overloaded with emotion and sheer sonic weight that you sometimes wonder how they manage to keep it chugging so frictionlessly", and "Illusory Walls is a definitive document of the power of their combined ability and belief."[5] In Exclaim!, Adam Feibel called Illusory Walls "a going-for-it album from a band that has never been known to hold back anyway" on which the band "give a lot and only ask for some of your time, patience and attention in return", and that "at every interval, [the band] make it worth your while."[9]

Pitchfork's Patric Fallon said the album "sacrifices intimacy and warmth in favor of the most technically proficient and hard-hitting music of their career."[11] Jordan Walsh wrote in Slant that the album "feels like the awakening that the band has been building toward all along", the band "bring[s] their emo-inflected brand of post-rock to bigger, darker, and more life-affirming places than ever before", and that they "[incorporate] a prog-rock bombast and studio slickness that serve to revitalize the band's signature sound."[1] Stereogum's Chris DeVille called the album's lyrics "consistently remarkable" and "as immersive and stirring as the music", and the album the band's "heaviest, proggiest, most audacious release to date", "scaling up the old bombast in every conceivable way."[13]

Track listing[]

All tracks are written by The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die. All tracks are produced by Chris Teti and Greg Thomas.

Illusory Walls tracks
No.TitleLength
1."Afraid to Die"3:09
2."Queen Sophie for President"3:29
3."Invading the World of the Guilty as a Spirit of Vengeance"5:50
4."Blank//Drone"1:40
5."We Saw Birds Through the Hole in the Ceiling"3:35
6."Died in the Prison of the Holy Office"6:48
7."Your Brain Is a Rubbermaid"3:03
8."Blank//Worker"2:46
9."Trouble"4:42
10."Infinite Josh"15:39
11."Fewer Afraid"19:44
Total length:70:25

Personnel[]

  • David F. Bello – lead vocals, guitar
  • Katie Dvorak – lead vocals, synthesizer
  • Steven K. Buttery – drums, percussion
  • Josh Cyr – bass, backing vocals
  • Chris Teti – guitar, vocals, bass, programming, producer
  • Greg Thomas – producer
  • Randy Slaugh – orchestration
  • Christopher June Zizzamia – spoken word (11)
  • Sarah Cowell – vocals (11)[11]

[13]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Walsh, Jordan (October 4, 2021). "Review: With Illusory Walls, The World Is a Beautiful Place Magnify Their Sound". Slant. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Minsker, Evan (August 3, 2021). "The World Is a Beautiful Place… Announce New Album Illusory Walls, Share New Song". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  3. ^ Rettig, James (September 1, 2021). "The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die - "Queen Sophie for President"". Stereogum. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  4. ^ Breihan, Tom (October 5, 2021). "The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die - "Trouble"". Stereogum. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c Hakimian, Rob (October 12, 2021). "Album Review: The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Illusory Walls". Beats Per Minute. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  6. ^ Kaufman, Gil (November 5, 2018). "Tom Diaz, Singer For The World Is a Beautiful Place, Dies at 32". Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  7. ^ "Illusory Walls by The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die reviews". AnyDecentMusic. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Illusory Walls by The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  9. ^ a b Feibel, Adam (October 6, 2021). "The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die Balance Anger and Ambition on Illusory Walls". Exclaim!. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  10. ^ Rodriguez, Juan Edgardo (October 18, 2021). "The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die: Illusory Walls". No Ripcord. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
  11. ^ a b c Fallon, Patric (October 13, 2021). "The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die Illusory Walls Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  12. ^ "The World Is a Beautiful Place... Illusory Walls". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  13. ^ a b DeVille, Chris (October 5, 2021). "Album of the Week: The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die Illusory Walls". Stereogum. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
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