HEALTH — DEATH MAGIC

Most people know HEALTH as “that band Crystal Castles remixed” to make “Crimewave.” If you listen to HEALTH’s original version of “Crimewave,” it’s not hard to see why. Crystal Castles managed to convert HEALTH’s raw noise into something with verses and a chorus. The original isn’t bad by any means, but it isn’t difficult to see why Crystal Castles got big while HEALTH remained more of a niche band. Both of HEALTH’s first two albums are challenging listens that make even Alice Glass’ harsh vocal stylings seem soft and melodious.

On a recent episode of the Song Exploder podcast, HEALTH mentioned that their newest album was inspired by the heaviness of mainstream pop, and it shows. DEATH MAGIC consists of crisp noise pop songs separated by more old-school noise tracks. Whereas before the band would let noise take over songs, the new album’s more constrained bits of fuzz, grain, and feedback mixed in with tight vocal stylings and rhythms almost come accross as more impressive.

In terms of vocals, Jake Duzsik’s airy, feminine-leaning voice has always been at odds with the band’s harsh instrumentals, and on DEATH MAGIC that contrast is used to its greatest effect yet. The album also puts a large focus on drums, and it’s clear that the band put a lot of time into perfecting the rhythms across the album, but perhaps most obviously on the militaristic “Men Today.” Just by listening to the album, you get the feeling that each sound was chopped up and painstakingly rearranged multiple times over the last few years. The band put a lot of time into manufacturing the sound of DEATH MAGIC, and it shows.

That’s not to say the album doesn’t drag on at points. Some of the later pop-based songs sound a little too similar to one another, and the noisier interludes can get repetitive as well. Even if you found the previous two HEALTH albums repetitive I would still recommend giving this a try, though, as it reaches heights that the previous ones did not.

DEATH MAGIC is not the typical HEALTH album. The band have accepted pop maximalism where previously pure noise rained supreme, and while this may upset longterm fans, it makes for a much more enjoyable listen. With DEATH MAGIC, HEALTH have managed to create a maximalist magnum opus that people can enjoy without having to wait for a remix.

Artist: HEALTH
Album: DEATH MAGIC
Score: 4.0
Label: Loma Vista
Release: 2015/08/07
Standouts: "Stonefist", "Flesh World (UK)", "L.A. Looks"