HEALTH - ‘RAT WARS’ review
HEALTH
HEALTH have been on the scene for almost 20 years. Read that sentence again. The underground LA mainstays have exploded since around 2020. Their latest studio album, Rat Wars, dropped on December 7th via Loma Vista Recordings. Here’s what we thought:
The opening track, "DEMIGODS," starts with a Terminator-like atmosphere. It introduces a heavy industrial tone that could make Trent Reznor weep. Jake Duzsik's vocal pitch bears a striking resemblance to Placebo. Clocking in at six minutes, the track delivers bucketfuls of punchy bass. DEMIGODS blows the door to Rat Wars wide open in 6 minutes of dramatic toil. The track feels like it’s done, then has an amazing build back up on the synths to bring it to a climax. This is a very dynamic way to open an album.
By comparison, ‘FUTURE OF HELL’ feels like an assault of a second track. John Famiglietti’s bass is somehow both staggered and relentless. Still, this track seems tailor made for live settings, and would not be for the faint of heart. The latter half of the track borders on rave music, and it’s excellent.
‘HATEFUL’ has been available to fans since April. It’s another example of the constant pulsing structure that the group have interwoven into each track. It’s a smart choice to use as a taster for the album as lead single, it’s held up well against the rest of the release. It peaks with the constant “lies” lyric repeating, before descending into a cacophony of drums and bass.
‘(OF ALL ELSE)’ acts as a bridge of sorts, as the transitions between tracks on Rat Wars are excellent. This track is two minutes of pumping interlude before introducing some wistful guitar. On first listen, that raised confusion, as it leaves the opening third of the album on an intriguing musical cliffhanger. While it’s a strong composition, it works well as a direct continuation of ‘HATEFUL’. The longer song structure feels very appealing with HEALTH’s style. ‘CRACK METAL’ comes sprinting out of that cliffhanger. This feels like when a video game boss evolves into a hidden 2nd form. Everything comes together in this track. Duzsik’s vocals are breathless and dramatic, and BJ Miller is a star of a drummer in these three minutes. It may stand as the tightest composition on the album.
‘UNLOVED’ stands in direct opposition of the pace ‘CRACK METAL’ set, slowing things right down. All the aggression on ‘HATEFUL’ & ‘CRACK METAL’ changes out for some very fervent songwriting. Rat Wars has this constant, almost lingering feeling of rawness, and ‘UNLOVED’ feels like a slow reopening that wound.
‘CHILDREN OF SORROW’ registered as the most exciting thing on the tracklist. Featuring Lamb of God's Willie Adler on guitar, HEALTH continue to add strings to their bow in terms of their sound. This mimics a sort of Pure-era Gary Numan, but only in some parts as the tone on the guitar is Adler with an unmistakable and excellent hook. Again, Duzsik has zero misses with vocals, which signifies this as a HEALTH track to remember. At this point in the album it felt like HEALTH had almost achieved enough with the release. That’s why ‘SICKO’ is a treat. Beginning with samples of the ‘Like Rats’ introduction from Godflesh’s Streatcleaner, this track felt a little lost in the weeds before release, as it dropped simultaneously with ‘CHILDREN’ as well as the album announcement online. The fact is, ‘SICKO’ is too good to be a victim of “the middle single” treatment***, it puts an excellent bow on what feels like a love letter to industrial music. ‘ASHAMED’ and ‘(OF BEING BORN)’ conclude a section of the album that all seems to blend together seemlessly. This is another spotlight track for Duzsik, as the two together make a great interlude towards the end of the album.
‘DSM-V’ is a very energetic way to start rounding things out. There’s a Rammstein-esque riff throughout that soaks the track in a bit of grandeur. It does begin to bring things full circle, again evoking that some doomsday rave energy. The sole criticism of ‘DSM-V’ is its pacing. This may have been better served towards the middle of the album as opposed to the end. The only reason for said comment is that ‘DON'T TRY’ is a beautiful way to end Rat Wars. Not to batter it with comparisons, but the soft guitar from Duzsik is so reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails ‘Hurt’. It’s slow, it’s final, it’s melancholic. When artists make “art” as opposed to just music, like HEALTH do, this feels like such an appropriate goodbye. It feels spiritually linked to so many great artists, Rat Wars is a case of HEALTH taking that mantle on themselves.
The LA group seem to finally be strapped to the rocket they deserve to be on after 18 years of noisy perseverance. Anyone who has picked this album up unfamiliar with the group, listen to their previous releases. In that time they garnered fame for video game soundtracks, excellent remixes, and their artful presentation. But this feels like a new chapter.
RAT WARS from HEALTH is out now via Loma Vista Recordings and available on all good streaming platforms. HEALTH have a headline tour kicking off in March 2024, Pixel Group and King Yosef with be providing support for every show. Those in the UK can also catch HEALTH opening for Sleep Token, 16 December at Wembley.