Metal Shock Finland (World Assault )

DEATH GOALS have shared a new single and accompanying music video, titled Year of the Guillotine. Year of the Guillotine is the third track to be taken from the UK queercore duo’s forthcoming sophomore album, A Garden of Dead Flowers, which is due for release via Prosthetic Records on May 5. The video for Year of the Guillotine was produced entirely from analogue film by Abhorrent Disobedience, visually complimenting the track’s pointed stand against queer erasure.

Stream Year of the Guillotine via Apple Music, TIDAL, Deezer, Bandcamp and Spotify
Pre-order A Garden of Dead Flowers here.

Speaking on the single release, DEATH GOALS comment: “Year Of The Guillotine was a song written as a response to the UK Tory government’s neglect of the LGBTQIA+ community. Neglect that has continued to fester and sadly we are living in a time of incredibly vocal hatred towards our community, not just in the UK but worldwide. But, try as they may, we will not disappear. You can’t erase us.”

Whilst bands are often prone to describing their latest opus as a progression, in the case of DEATH GOALS it very much is – and there were signposts towards their burgeoning intentions on 2021 full-length The Horrible and the Miserable’s closing track. Nothing Left To Give was the only song to feature clean vocals and paved the way towards what is now just around the corner with A Garden of Dead Flowers. This album also sees the pairing of Harry Bailey and George Milner embrace being defined as a queer hardcore band; their experiences – both good and bad – with that label and its accoutrements are documented throughout.

From album the album opener – the wonderfully titled Genderless Clones of Gameshow Hosts – through to the joyously provocative closer, Faux Macho, Harry and George guide listeners through secret woodland hookups, fighting against queer erasure, nightmarish middle of the night fears, addiction and rehab, dysphoria, and – potentially most importantly – euphoric community acceptance.

Sonically, the pair have expanded their palette – arguably a happy by-product of feeling more comfortable in their own skins and within the band’s identity. With more time and focus dedicated to shaping and re-working the songs in pre-production, the 11 tracks on A Garden of Dead Flowers are more cohesive and well-rounded than ever before. Recording took place over just five days in April 2022 with Tom Hill at Bookhouse Recording studio in London, UK. Whilst they stay true to their chaotic hardcore nucleus, there are flourishes of noise, sludge, and even black metal speckled throughout.

The flowers of the album name are motifs of members of the queer community; trampled, crushed and oppressed by policies, politics and society itself. The title track revisits the content of the song Exit Wounds on their debut – detailing an experience in rehab – but this time through the lens of increased queer self-acceptance and ownership. Whilst there are undoubtedly dark moments on A Garden of Dead Flowers, DEATH GOALS are gleefully antagonistic and have created an engaging anthology of reflections on lived experiences, offering up hope, support and community to those around them.

A Garden of Dead Flowers tracklist:
1. Genderless Clones of Game Show Hosts
2. A Garden of Dead Flowers
3. Ultraviolence
4. Loveless
5. P.A.N.S.Y.
6. Death Goals In Cursive
7. I Wouldn’t Be Caught Dead (Taking A Bullet For You)
8. If I’m the Enemy Then Who’s the Protagonist?
9. Last Night I Had A Dream About Death
10. Year of the Guillotine
11. Faux Macho

DEATH GOALS A Garden of Dead Flowers UK release tour dates
May 9 – Crofters Rights – Bristol, UK
May 10 – The Moon – Cardiff, UK
May 11 – The Victoria – Birmingham, UK
May 12 – Outpost – Liverpool, UK
May 13 – TBA – Leeds, UK
May 14 – Little Buildings – Newcastle, UK
May 15 – 13th Note – Glasgow, UK
May 16 – Chameleon – Nottingham, UK
May 17 – Cowley Club – Brighton, UK

w/ support from Vicarage