When Health opened for Deftones at London’s Crystal Palace Park this summer, it was a supreme exercise in juxtaposition. Here was a trio who made a name for themselves by playing punk rock squats and abandoned L.A. warehouses, now on the bill of a sold-out show at a 25,000-capacity venue. The EBM-meets-industrial-metal of their last album, 2023’s Rat Wars, was self-described as “The Downward Spiral for people with at least two monitors and a Vitamin D deficiency”, and here they were making people dance outdoors on one of the sunniest days of the year.
Fact is, Health know they’re a band of contrasts. Singer/guitarist Jake Duszik says that he wants Conflict DLC, their sixth album, to be “fun, cathartic and aggressive”, as well as “emotional and psychological”. It’s a continuation of the ‘party at the end of the world’ vibe they’ve dealt in for years: an approach clearly resonating with a generation who have to live with live-streamed genocides and the inevitable apocalypse that is the climate crisis. Major Crimes, the band’s contribution to the soundtrack of blockbuster videogame Cyberpunk 2077, boasts more than 32 million Spotify streams. Plus, as well as Deftones, they’ve supported Slipknot and Sleep Token in the last two years alone.
