The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die Release New Album 'Illusory Walls'

Illusory Walls, the fourth studio album from The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die is out digitally and on CD today. Vinyl will be available on December 3.  

Taken from the unlikely source of the video game Dark Souls, the album’s title; Illusory Walls “refers to a hidden surface that seems to prevent entry, but upon inspection is nothing more than a visual illusion,” vocalist/guitarist David F. Bello. 

The process for Illusory Walls took about a year, written and recorded remotely between the bear-filled woods of Connecticut & the streets of quarantined Philadelphia – a first for the band – due to the coronavirus pandemic. The extra time made for a more relaxed, comfortable experience in the studio, allowing the band to realize the full extent of their musical and thematic aspirations. 

Co-produced by vocalist/guitarist Chris Teti alongside his studio partner Greg Thomas (END, Misery Signals), Illusory Walls takes on the weight of human existence while it’s buckling under the pressure of today’s near-dystopian society. Personal anxieties and political struggles collide with a series of portentous, apocalyptic, and dramatic tunes, resulting in some of the darkest music the band has made since forming in 2009. For while Illusory Walls certainly draws you deep into the world of the band, it also takes you deeper into your own, into crevices of your mind and life that you perhaps hadn’t encountered or weren’t able to explore before.