“Let the guns go off, let the bombs explode.”
In conjunction with the inescapable carnage of the Brexit negotiations currently tormenting Westminster and the British public, witnessing an industrial noise-rock band waxing lyrical of an apocalyptic world may have been a nonsensical choice. Yet the band named Health, hailing from Los Angeles, cut through the political chaos and performed to a crowd more-than-eager to revel in the sonic blares and distortions they are renowned for. Having supported Nine Inch Nails almost 10 years prior and collaborated with Crystal Castles back in their hay-day, Health have since garnered a name for themselves within the industrial and electronic spheres - inadvertently drawing influence from the chaos of our current political climates into a frenetic live set in London.
Churning, gruesome, repulsive industrial noises ran amok throughout this evening. Right from the set’s inception with ‘Victim’, these gnarling industrial sounds swirled amongst a sea of electronics, blaring siren noises, and high-pitched faint vocals basking in a self-professed ‘Zombie melody’. Soon thereafter, tribalistic drumming patterns joined into the cacophony of sonic clashes on stage - mixing in with sporadic screechy industrial glitch-noises indulging in the conjured apocalyptic atmosphere.
For laying down this pertinent marker, Health blasted their way onto stage as if the end of the world was nigh. Yet the song trajectories and overall use of instrumentation littered throughout their discography began to seem trite after the first quarter of the set - particularly amongst such tracks as ‘God Botherer’ and ‘L.A. Looks’. The latter track ultimately proved to contain a fresh, uptone facade to it, rather than the former track’s half-baked rhythmic section with frontman Duszik’s ‘unaffected’ vocal delivery which became all-too-familiar by this early stage.
Duszik became the focal point for tonight’s offerings of apocalyptic landscapes and effervescent distortions, exemplified well by ‘New Coke’s exclamation to “let the guns go off, let the bombs explode”. In spite of the imminent triteness of Duszik’s soft vocal delivery, it ultimately fared better in the latter half of Health’s set, with a marked improvement in lyricism as well as instrumental variation. Tracks such as ‘Stonefist’, ‘Psychonaut’, ‘Feel Nothing’ and ‘Strange Days (1999)’, all posed an equally delusional apocalyptic scope swimming amongst these industrial noises - effectively summoning Duszik’s hauntingly eerie vocal delivery.
Unfortunately so, these impressions did not carry onto the encore section. Oscillating between the upbeat tones of ‘We Are Water’, to the cataclysmic slow-burner pacing of ‘Perfect Skin’, and then culminating with ‘Crusher’s reversion to such trite tropes strewn amongst the first half of the set. This overall conclusion signalled a disappointing shortcoming for the industrial outfit from the West Coast of the U.S. - unable to penetrate through the genre’s stilted impressions through this past decade. For all the potential running through the trio of band members, the pertinence of their sound failed to leave a lasting impression and left me only desiring more in the way of experimental endeavour.
Nevertheless, the strengths of Duszik’s lyricism and delivery along with the brutal backing instrumentation, failed to outweigh the pitfalls of their encore and collective sound showcased tonight in London’s Oval Space. Nothing can be taken away from the lighting design, too, visually transporting the cramped audience to a distant apocalyptic world. Yet with this in mind, I’d only slightly concur with Duszik’s belief that “we aren’t interested in being a noisy screaming band” - my ultimate desire for the vocals to breach into more abrasive pastures in their future discography. Whilst the outcome of Health’s sound can easily be altered for the future, unfortunately the same cannot be said with the current Brexit situation - and so, back to the daily grindstone we go.
6/10
Health's latest LP, Vol. 4 :: Slaves of Fear, is out now and can be found here.
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