Death Blooms: Smiling In The Face Of Anger

The sound of DEATH BLOOMS is simple: noise, riffs, breakdowns, energy, fun. Their nu-metalcore cocktail saw them open up the return of live music in the UK over at Download Pilot, and saw them notoriously get their fans banned from Airbnb’s thanks to their ‘aggressive, expletive-ridden, disturbing’ sound. Their debut record Life Is Pain came out in recent weeks, and we caught up with vocalist Paul Barrow to hear all about it.

With an album titled Life Is Pain, and a back catalogue boasting titles such as Fuck Everything, Anger, Shut Up et al, it’s not hard to picture an intimidating, sullen band behind the tunes. But when Paul picks up the phone to talk all things Life Is Pain, you can practically hear the kid-on-Christmas grin on his face. “It’s exciting!” He enthuses, “’cos the original plan was to get it out like a year ago, so it feels like it’s time. We recorded it before the first lockdown, so it’s been a while to sit on.”

It’s not exactly been a forgiving year, so DEATH BLOOMS‘ no-nonsense catharsis feels all the more fitting. “We wanted to make a collection that was pretty representative of what was going on at that time, but now it’s even more poignant. It sounds even angrier than it did, I think, based off the whole situation, but the goal was just to write what came out.”

Life Is Pain is an unforgiving motto, to say the least. What’s DEATH BLOOMS‘ rationale behind their in-your-face messaging? “All those negative seeming slogans, once you say them out loud, they’re kind of funny,” Paul laughs. “Life Is Pain is such a funny thing to say out loud, and it’s like, shut the fuck up, fuck everything, all these things. I understand why people don’t take to it or think it’s cheesy or whatever, but I’m a very straightforward person, in terms of communicating anyway. Once you say it, that shit’s funny man! Not everyone’s gonna get it, not everyone’s gonna like it, but it’s just turning a negative thing into something that’s fun and cathartic.”

Speaking of catharsis – one of the album’s singles, One Release, is a literal ode to the mosh pit. And DEATH BLOOMS soundtracked the first mosh-pit in 18 months. Prophetic? “I wasn’t really even sold on releasing it as a single,” Paul reveals. “I thought it would be a good album tack, but it just felt right. People need mosh pits right now. I tried to get everything moving so that it could be released for the Pilot, but it just didn’t work out. You overthink things so much and then everything falls into place like oh, there’s your answer, cos it’s out for our first tour, back to seeing bands, back to what we’re supposed to be doing with our lives.”

Aside from One Release, is there anything else that Paul is particularly excited for people to get to hear? “Honestly just all of the album! I’m sure everyone else is in the same boat as well, especially for us as we’ve always written songs for the live performance. I hope it’s gonna translate well, I hope it’s gonna be fun! We’ve played Waste once or twice, anyone who’s noticed has had a little taster of that.”

Paul‘s favourite track, though, is one that’s been out the longest – Life Is Pain, the album’s title track. “It’s weird because Life Is Pain the song, when I wrote it, I thought it was my least favourite, the least strong, it’s a very black and white song. But I love playing it now! It’s become my favourite over time.” It’s an apt album title, too. “You just have these little words and phrases that you keep around,” Paul tells us, “and that’s kind of what the sentiment to the album is. It’s pretty straight forward!”

On the flipside from favourites, is there anything that the band are nervous to put into the world? “I think you always have that apprehension. As soon as it’s out there, it’s not your record any more, it’s everyone else’s. Like, I’ve got no idea if people are gonna like this, I like it, but who knows! Definitely got some anxiety, but it’s been so long that I’m more excited than anxious just to play it and have people listen to it. I’ve been in bands for so long and it’s the first time I’ve ever recorded a full album!”

The mission of DEATH BLOOMS is simple. Paul tells us that the message of their debut, the statement they want to put out, at it’s very core, is “as long as people can have a nice time, and jump up and down, and get a bit sweaty with their mates, then that’s job done.”

Life Is Pain is out now via Adventure Cat Records.

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