(Here’s Wil Cifer‘s review of the new album by L.A.-based HEALTH, which was released last week by Loma Vista Recordings.)

The industrial trio HEALTH continues to make artistic noise, with a haunting melody as the focal point of even their most confrontational moments. I have been a fan of this project for some time, but this is the first time I have felt compelled to review these guys here. Rat Wars finds the band to be sonically more appropriate. They have always been metal adjacent, but this time, though they might not be flashing devil horns with their foot on the monitor, it is their heaviest work to date.

As I searched for this album online earlier in the week, I found a comment on Reddit that gave me a chuckle as it referred to this album as ‘The Downward Spiral” for people with two monitors. It’s a pretty fair assessment. The band’s full vision unfolds on this album, opening the doors for the larger metal community to embrace them. Continue reading »