Health – ‘Rat Wars’ album review: blending the light and the dark together
Heavy music has always carried a cardinal rule about not sounding pretty. From the moment Black Sabbath first stormed into the world, nothing out of Tony Iommi’s guitar was meant to be sophisticated, looking to make the instrument sound feral whenever he picked it up. Although acts like Deftones have been able to make a science out of songs that blend the light and the dark sides of music, none have captured it more nimbly as of late than Health.
While the band have been able to use different sonic textures throughout their career, they have made a signature sound out of songs with a strong sense of melody and an aggressive ear for production. It might sound like an oxymoron, but Rat Wars makes the concept sound like a match made in Hell.
From start to finish, the album has a certain dread that coats it from when the opener ‘Demigods’ is unleashed. Compared to the traditional approach to metal with heavy guitars, most of the ominous feeling comes from the various electronic elements working in the mix, creating an industrial sound that wouldn’t feel out of place on a Nine Inch Nails record circa 2005.
The sound isn’t the only thing the band picked up from Trent Reznor, though. Across songs like ‘Ashamed’ and ‘Hateful’, the subject can get pitch-black for some to take. While the band might occasionally keep their opinions vague about who they are specifically referring to in their songs, the lyrics about someone being worn down by years of untold suffering are enough to leave any rock fan stunned.
The Deftones comparison isn’t just apparent in the vocal timbre. Across every track, the performance given by Jake Duzsik seems to borrow a lot of his target notes from Chino Moreno as well, albeit with a far less cynical tone to them. Whereas most people would accuse the band of pulling a Greta Van Fleet with Deftones instead of Led Zeppelin, this is the perfect homage, tipping the hat to heroes while paving the way for something new.
By embracing the sounds of noise rock, most of the album maintains a steady flow, especially towards the middle of the record where the tracks start to bleed into each other like the two-part tracks ‘Hateful’ and ‘(Of All Else)’. While the arrangement works well for this brand of music, it does present one flaw with the album as a whole.
Across every track, it’s easy to get swept up in the music without remembering specific moments. For all the great tracks scattered throughout the project, this album will most likely be remembered more for its essential moments than any one song. Outside of the more epic songs like ‘Demigod’ or the sweeping finale ‘Don’t Try’, only ‘Crack Music’ stands out as something more substantial.
Then again, that doesn’t seem to be the main strength of the album, anyhow. For all of the tremendous sonic landscapes the band create across the runtime, this seems to be an album that is more concerned with washing over your speakers in the same way that an album like My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless does.
Even though the stellar singles might not be on full display, this is the kind of listening experience that warrants further listening often, if only for the wild sonic ride it takes you on. In an era when heavy music is more concerned with making raw noise half the time, Health deserves a spot next to bands like Loathe in terms of pushing the genre into soothing territory.
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