Dichotomies are fragile. It always seems that at the fundamental level, “balance,” whatever it means, is always tugged at by imbalance; good by evil, and so forth. One always gives way to lose its identity in its counterpart. In a feat that nearly defies physics, For Your Health has unlocked the gates and invited us to bear witness to their beautiful hellscape, This Bitter Garden, where rot sits next to bloom in impeccable juxtaposition, where identity is not sacrificed for anything.
I’m admittedly a sucker for an unexpected opener, especially one that sets the tone for an album before a single note is actually played. Before the music starts, joy and tension are breathing down your neck, but before the unease sets in as familiar, a barrage of angular rhythms, panicked chords, gnarling and snarky vocals surround. I can only think to myself “welcome to the garden baby, you’re gonna die.” Despite the warning, there’s something remarkable ahead, I can feel it.
Evident in as early as the first minute and a half of the album, the production elements of This Bitter Garden make it a standout. At its core, the mix is built with those panic chords and dissonant elements of skramz and mathcore at the forefront. As we traverse This Bitter Garden further though, a myriad of other textures bloom aside the harsher tonalities. “With Empty Promises and Loaded Guns” melds post-rock and emo sensibilities alongside synth textures of game systems past with ease. Pianos and acoustic guitars breathe ethereal airs of reprieve, especially worth noting in “Flowers for the Worst of Them.” Orchestrations are fluid even when all things pivot on the stop of a dime, dialing in some disarray in an otherwise swaying 6/8, vocal-hook-laden track like in “Clementine.” Each track is a bouquet recognizable as emo/skramz/post-hardcore, but to take the time to admire each bud, it’s clear that influences are vast and potent.
In terms of dichotomy, it’s easy to plop harsh tracks haphazardly next to gentle ones and call it “balance.” “Heaven, Here” deserves its own call out in this regard. Not for sticking out as the “ballad” or for being in sonic contrast to the rest of the album, but for its tact and intimacy. The emotion and the confidence in this performance is terminally contagious. Tears may or may not have been shed. Even in this tender offering are glimmers of unease, stringing this gem into continuity, exemplifying deliberateness across This Bitter Garden. The efficacy in this track can also be chalked up to the prior track, “The Radiant Apostasy” in its unrelenting hardcore ...erm, core, As it closes, an airy passage descends before sinking into “Heaven, Here.”
For Your Health have a clear prowess in balancing out a multitude of influences and ideas within each track and across this 40-minute work. This Bitter Garden rides the wave of the band's early momentum with a refreshing approach to emo, hardcore, metalcore, post-rock, (dare I say) pop, and whatever birthed the idea for the stellar vocal production on “Longinus.” There is a clear tact at hand early in the band’s career, with succinct, impactful, and inventive writing that deserves repeat after repeat.