“DEATH MAGIC” by Health
On first glance at Health’s new album DEATH MAGIC, my inner voice was yelling each track name because naturally, that’s how capital letters translate. Hit play on song number one, and my senses are still heightened because the first eighty seconds are fit for a movie trailer featuring the next natural disaster to end civilization as we know it. Now that I’m sufficiently alarmed, what follows is not the apocalypse but Jacob Duszik’s unexpected croon across all twelve songs.
What was once a noise band has now progressed into the electro-pop spectrum, mostly attributed to Duszik’s vocal work on top of pummeling bass lines. It’s hard-hitting stuff that screams aggression at first, but loses its façade with lyrics like, “We fall apart/ it’s not our fault,” and “I still want you,” that come in the form of mercy. That being said, it’s still the relentless, metal crushing barrage that dominates DEATH MAGIC, no matter how pop based Health might be these days.
With their last studio release in 2009, Health made themselves busy by coming out with the soundtrack to the video game Max Payne 3. A project of remixes, an unfinished tour with Crystal Castles in 2012, and a ton of melodic work later, the L.A. based group is already melting festival faces with songs from their album set to be released this month. »
– Gina Pieracci
