Death Goals – A Garden Of Dead Flowers | Album Review

To say that Death Goals gracefully bloomed into the eye of the scene would be something of an understatement.

Whilst the queer hardcore two piece where tinkering with their craft long before the release of their 2021 debut LP The Horrible And The Miserable, their debut didn’t capture the attention of the national scene as much as it straight up demanded it. True to it’s namesake, The Horrible And Miserable was 24 minutes of pure resentment and anguish, one that saw the band tackling subjects such as loss, dysmorphia, anguish and self-hatred in a manner so violently self-destructive that even Converge circa 1996 would be concerned. Truly, in the fashion it lashed and attacked itself, it was a record clearly born from pure loathing; both inwardly and outwardly.

Thankfully, in the two years that have passed since it’s release, Death Goals’ Harry Bailey and George Milner have mostly come to make peace with themselves, their identities and their bodies. Such is their new full length endeavour A Garden Of Dead Flowers, a record that bridges the bile of their previous body of work with newfound acceptance. However, an easy listen or pleasant listen this is not. In fact, with the self-resentment of The Horrible And Miserable now pacified, the duo have expand their musical palette, focused their protectory and are now redirecting their musical resentment externally. In laymen’s terms, with A Garden Of Dead Flowers Death Goals have gone from flogging themselves to flogging everyone else and it absolutely rips.

‘Genderless Clones Of Game Show Hosts’ – the wonderfully titled opener – showcases this with all the subtlety to a brick to the forehead. A lived-in tale of having one’s identity erased due to crippling dysmorphia, the track erupts with the aggression and dissonant chords one would associate with the band prior to a chorus of unexpected melody and clean signing. A left-field change for the band yes, but such inclusions are worked into the band’s sound with sublime finesse. In fact, the track only amplifies the impact of the proceeding barrage of the proceeding title track and ‘Ultraviolence’, a song suitably named in thanks to it’s frantic, panic attack inducing breakdown.

Yet as the record progresses, the true variation of this record blossoms. To the still, borderline ghastly suspense of the ‘Loveless’ to the post-hardcore heartache of ‘P.A.N.S.Y’ – a timeless tale of ill-fated woodland hook ups – to how ‘Death Goals In Cursive’ pendulums between panic chords and drawn out riffs that border upon doom territory, A Garden Of Dead Flowers is a record that challenges ones perception of hardcore in thanks to it’s variation. In fact, to call this a hardcore record feels limited and restricting; and not just because of it’s musical components. Whilst the record may sound combative to the point of blind hostility, in the subtext lies a sense of queer euphoria and liberated jubilation. By making peace with the horrors that plagued their previous record, Death Goals have crafted a body of work that’s inclusive and intricate, one that shuns the toxic masculinity plaguing hardcore and one that stands as a labour of love for the queer community that has long supported the band. Though saying that, this sense of love and joy is subtle and impossible to find within ‘I Wouldn’t Be Caught Dead (Taking A Bullet For You)’, a track that hastily speeds through the oddly danceable tones reminiscent of CLT DRP and culminates with a breakdown so impactful, so ludicrously heavy and so absurd one cannot help but wince in reaction.

Ultimately as the album concludes with the breathless existentialism of ‘Last Night I Had A Dream About Death’, the raging antigovernment lashing of ‘Year Of The Guillotine’ and the haplessly danceable lead single ‘Faux Macho – a track that will no doubt incite crop-top donned belly dancing in the pit as well as clenched fist moshing – A Garden Of Dead Flowers is a wonderful record that delivers just as much love as it does violence. By coming to accept themselves and their identities with the support of the brilliant alternative queer community, Death Goals have created a body of work that’s just as destructive as their debut but no longer self-immolating. With it’s volatile contents bristling with purpose, it’s nigh on impossible to envision an end of year hardcore list without this record sitting atop the upper rankings.