HEALTH

HEALTH's industrial rock channels existential dread through a dense, haunting blend of guitars, synths, and the atmospheric vocals of Jake Duzsik. Their pummeling yet intricate approach first surfaced on the 2007 self-titled debut and set them apart in Los Angeles' late-2000s experimental rock community. Across subsequent releases the band explored varied facets of their sound, surfacing synth pop influences on 2015's Death Magic and incorporating trap elements on 2019's Vol. 4 :: Slaves of Fear. DISCO 4 :: Part 1 (2021) and DISCO 4 :: Part 2 (2022) showcased the breadth of HEALTH's music via collaborations with Purity Ring, Lamb of God, and Nine Inch Nails, whereas 2023's Rat Wars centered on emotional resonance.

Guitarist/vocalist Jake Duzsik, bassist John Famiglietti, drummer B.J. Miller, and guitarist/keyboardist Jupiter Keyes established HEALTH in 2005. Six months later the group performed their debut show and quickly integrated into Los Angeles' D.I.Y. noise community, sharing bills with kindred local acts such as Ex Models, No Age, and Mika Miko. They soon began tracking material at the city's underground venue and studio the Smell, harnessing its cavernous brick acoustics and vintage microphones to document aggressive, concise compositions. The band's 2007 remix of Crystal Castles' "Crimewave" extended their reach beyond the L.A. circuit, climbing into the Top Ten of the U.K. Indie Singles Chart. Their self-titled debut album, issued later that year on Lovepump Records, showcased tribal drums, squealing guitars, asymmetrical basslines, and the homemade Zoothorn guitar pedal/microphone. Crystal Castles in turn supplied remixes for 2009's //DISCO, a collection of reworked HEALTH tracks.

After touring alongside Nine Inch Nails, HEALTH issued 2009's Get Color, a more accessible collection that preserved the debut's crunch and reached number 17 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart. The follow-up remix album ::Disco2 appeared the next year, featuring contributions from CFCF and Pictureplane alongside Crystal Castles and peaking at number 22 on Billboard's Top Dance/Electronic Albums Chart. In 2012 the band composed the score for Max Payne 3, earning nominations for Best Score in a Game and Best Song in a Game (for "Tears") at the Spike Video Game Awards. They extended their video-game work in 2013 with "High Pressure Dave," a track drawing from the Units' "High Pressure Days" that featured in Grand Theft Auto V, and also supplied music for GTA Online's Arena War.

HEALTH resurfaced in August 2015 with the third album Death Magic, which foregrounded synth pop and industrial elements and attained number five on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart. Keyes departed several months afterward. The group signed with Loma Vista for February 2017's DISCO3, containing reworkings by Preoccupations, Purity Ring, and Vessel; an additional remix EP, DISCO3+, followed in June. That same year they unveiled new material including a cover of New Order's "Blue Monday" for the Atomic Blonde soundtrack and the Nolife collaboration "Hard to Be a God."

In 2018 HEALTH released a series of collaborative singles: "BODY/PRISON" with Parisian synthwave artist Perturbator, "INNOCENCE" with Youth Code, and "MASS GRAVE" alongside Soccer Mommy and Purity Ring. None of these appeared on the bleak, politically charged Vol. 4 :: Slaves of Fear, issued by Loma Vista in February 2019 and peaking at number six on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. The following October the band assembled earlier tracks on DISCO 4 :: Part 1, which also incorporated collaborations with Xiu Xiu, Ghostemane, and 100 gecs plus the sole HEALTH original "Cyberpunk 2.0 2.0." The self-released remix collection Disco4+ arrived in 2021. HEALTH continued with DISCO 4 :: PART 2 in April 2022, another collaborative set containing "Isn't Everyone" with Nine Inch Nails as well as pairings with Poppy, Lamb of God, and the Body. For the cathartic industrial-pop-metal fusion of December 2023's RAT WARS, the trio enlisted producer Stint and Lamb of God guitarist Willie Adler.