HEALTH – RAT WARS | Album Review

After the wildly successful two-part multi year spanning collaborative project DISCO4, LA based electronic/industrial-rock three piece HEALTH return in their true form for their fifth studio album RAT WARS.

Having been a notable force in LA’s alternative/underground electronic scene dating as far back as 2007, HEALTH are finally seeing a true blossom in viral popularity through their dedicated and relentless grind over the past decade and a half. Known for their noisy and industrial influenced brand of electronic rock, the band have captured widespread attention over the years through their range of credits; video game soundtracks, remixes, reels and reels of collaborations (thanks in large part to previous release DISCO4::) and their studio albums. RAT WARS sees HEALTH return to their true form to follow up their fourth album, 2019’s aptly named Vol. 4 :: Slaves of Fear. 

Opening track ‘DEMIGODS’ revels in grandiose goth energy, the opening moments home to one of few prominent guitar melodies on the album, with a clean glassy synth melodies following along, staying relatively restrained before bursting into methodical industrial beats. It regularly shifts back and forth between the two across four minutes, before a final refrain switches things up completely, pulsing to life and flipping into a triplet beat, embracing sonic cyberpunk energy racing to the chaotic climax. The final moments glitch and stutter straight into following track ‘FUTURE OF HELL’, which embraces a choppy and pulsing instrumental that sounds like stuttering and glitching machinery before another frenetic pace change towards the end that almost veers head first into old-school Gabba. Each track is absolutely stuffed with sonic detail on their own that still reveal layers upon layers to unpick with repeat listens, let alone their context’s within the album as a whole, it is incredibly hard not to get lost in the discussion finer detail of every single moment on offer.

As hinted at with the album artwork, RAT WARS definitely feels like it has been put together with the vinyl listening experience in mind. Most of the songs tend to flow pretty smoothly from one to another, apart from the clearer defined break between ‘UNLOVED’ closing Side A and ‘CHILDREN OF SORROW’ opening Side B, allowing the album to feel more like two halves rather than a collection of individual tracks. That doesn’t mean that songs don’t stand out on their own merits though, that is far from the truth.

A fantastic example of this, debuting all the way back in April, lead single ‘HATEFUL’ is a phenomenal single with its massive melodic synth hooks and arpeggiated bass-y dread. It’s a perfect example, working as a seamless piece of the album flowing into ‘(OF ALL ELSE)’, working as a melodic expansion and extended outro, whilst standing strong on its own two feet as a single. The same idea is repeated on Side B with the tracks ‘ASHAMED’, another massive single focussing instead on massive vocal hooks, and ‘(OF BEING BORN)’. 

As always, the band sound absolutely fantastic from a technical perspective. The overall product was produced in collaboration with Stint (Oliver Tree, Demi Lovato) and mixed by Lars Stalfors (SALEM, The Neighbourhood) offering distinct perspectives to add further elements to HEALTH’s unique sound. Jake Duzsik’s soaring, soft sung vocals are still reminiscent of Silversun Pickups fed through vocal manipulation modules and wonderfully juxtapose the oppressive soundscapes the band routinely conjure. The wide array of synthesis textures and tones simultaneously sound retro and futuristic, from chirpy lead melodies to vast, machine like sound sculpted bass synths you’d hear in a movie trailer; once again expertly handled by John Famiglietti. BJ Miller’s excellent drumming and sequencing work ties the whole band package up neatly, using an array of sampled drum sounds depending on the song or even specific passages to lend an appropriate percussive tone to the instrumentals.

There are a handful of features on RAT WARS as well, some live and others in a sampling capacity. ‘CHILDREN OF SORROW’ for example, features Lamb Of God guitarist Willie Adler, sounding absolutely brutal and building the track around his distinctive metal hook and massive palm-mute chugged guitar chords. The aforementioned ‘HATEFUL’ features additional synthesis by SIERRA and additional vocals from Street Sects. Most prominently though, is the undeniably massive single ‘SICKO’, sampling the iconic opening track ‘Like Rats’ from Godflesh’s 1989 industrial debut Streetcleaner. Building the entire song around Justin Broadrick’s iconic screams of “Breed. Like Rats” and throwing in layers upon layers churning synths and pommeling percussion.

There is so much to RAT WARS that it is painfully difficult to try and summarise in a review, the bottom line is HEALTH have crafted another excellent album in their already stellar back catalogue. Do yourself a favour and full immerse yourself in their world; stick on every screen nearby, shutter off the natural lighting in favour of synthetic, load your favourite virtual world and become one with the oncoming cybernetic industrial nightmare. RAT WARS is simply best described with a simple quote provided: “It’s The Downward Spiral for people with at least two monitors and a vitamin D deficiency.” For fans of bleak alternative electronic music, old-school industrial heads or anyone that might get a chuckle out of the concept of “CUM METAL”, HEALTH are ALWAYS worth your time.