{"id":101114,"date":"2025-12-12T09:00:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T09:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=101114"},"modified":"2025-12-11T22:51:42","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T22:51:42","slug":"review-health-conflict-dlc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-health-conflict-dlc\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: HEALTH – CONFLICT DLC"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Into dirt, into dust, It’s an ordinary loss, Everyone that you love, They’re here and then they’re gone.”\u00a0<\/em>From the opening ominous moments of\u00a0HEALTH<\/strong>‘s sixth album,\u00a0‘CONFLICT DLC,’<\/em> you’re instantly told this is going to be a bleak listen. On the surface, you have to doubt what\u00a0HEALTH<\/strong> have to be miserable about.\u00a0Aided by high-profile support slots (such as Sleep Token) and collaborations with Nine Inch Nails, Bad Omens, and Poppy, the Los Angeles trio of vocalist\/guitarist Jacob Duzsik, John Famiglietti (bass, electronics), and BJ Miller (drums) has emerged as leaders of modern industrial noise rock. Nevertheless, Duzsik’s writing has consistently been downbeat, honing in on themes of depression, anxiety, and obsessive compulsion. Furthermore, as its title suggests, there is a social and cultural awareness to\u00a0‘CONFLICT DLC’<\/em>. In short, the world is in a shit state, and Duzsik, Famiglietti, and Miller know it.<\/p>\n

As\u00a0‘Ordinary Loss’<\/em> gallops with its pulsating electronic undertone, teasing a sense of catharsis to Duzsik’s hopeless words,\u00a0HEALTH<\/strong> provide a sonic assault.\u00a0‘CONFLICT DLC’<\/em> is considered a companion piece to 2024’s\u00a0‘RAT WARS’<\/em> , yet comes off as more direct and visceral. You can credit the impact of playing numerous metal festivals, as well as the mixing work of WZRD BLD, aka Drew Fulk (Knocked Loose’s\u00a0‘You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To’<\/em>), for that. It allows moments such as ‘SHRED ENVY’<\/em> and\u00a0‘THOUGHT LEADER’<\/em> to sit in a steely, industrial metal tone we’ve come to expect from HEALTH<\/strong>. Yet it has evolved. On the former, the adrenaline rushing verses give way to a raw, melodic chorus of\u00a0“Wish I’d never been born”<\/em>. Whereas the latter wraps a sweeping cinematic blanket around its brooding skin.<\/p>\n