Last year, The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die released a cover of Ceremony’s 2006 hardcore classic “Kersed,” and now the post-rock/emo collective have released a hardcore song of their own, “Beware the Centrist.” Vocals are split between guitarist Anthony Gesa (who sang lead on the Ceremony cover), keyboardist Katie Dvorak, and TWIABP’s usual lead vocalist David F. Bello, and it comes as a reminder that TWIABP grew out of the same Connecticut hardcore scene that birthed bands like Palehorse and With Honor. It’s not just a genre exercise though; they find ways to make it distinctly TWIABPian.
As the title suggests, it’s also a song with a powerful political message. The band says:
Oppressors call rebels terrorists. Terror is a last resort tactic when speech, boycott, and protests are crushed and declawed. There are breaking points when average citizens are forced to embrace chaos and destruction, a reason to cause damage for a cause or a name to be remembered. When the dominant strategy commoditizes and annihilates us, it’s appropriate to fight back with violence.
Look past the arrogance that we are safe in the US from what happens in other countries and what has happened throughout history. We have less and less time every day to change the world, as fascism cements itself into our infrastructure. Take a hammer to the world.
Sure, post on social media, spread awareness, raise funds to aid the beaten, but do not let that be the end of the struggle. They will try and often succeed in taking away our words, banning our books, dispersing our rallies. They will encourage in-fighting amongst us. Do not pretend that the way things are are the way they must be.
Learn from Willem Van Spronsen, Adam Curtis, and David Graeber. If your coworker reports you for your beliefs, destroy his tools and spoil his food.
TWIABP guitarist Chris Teti co-produced it with his studio partner Greg Thomas (of END, ex-Misery Signals), and it was mastered by Will Putney (Knocked Loose, Every Time I Die, etc). It comes with a video made up of live footage and you can check that out here:
TWIABP’s last original single was 2024’s “Auguries Of Guilt,” a nearly-six-minute song that explores their proggier side. No concrete word on a followup to 2021’s Illusory Walls yet but it’s definitely in the works:
