LIVE REVIEW: Health @ Electric Brixton, London
A broad church descends upon Brixton on a Sunday night as the HEALTH show rolls into town. The band’s unique mix of industrial metal and noise-rock, cut with a bit of synth-wave, has developed a cult following. Amidst the usual cohorts of band T-shirts and goth get-ups are the Extremely Online fans, inspired by the band’s Discord page and Elden Ring meme antics of bassist Johnny Famiglietti (AKA Johnny HEALTH). A few cosplay outfits, cat ears, and brandished anime dolls are dotted about the packed venue. Within five minutes of opening, there is a persistent queue for the merch stand. HEALTH are notorious for provocative merch, including meme-ready T-shirts (“Sad Music For Horny People”), oversized computer mats and some more salubrious items. It’s a febrile atmosphere for this leg of the UK & Europe Tour.
Openers ZETRA have had a busy few months – festival appearances at 2000Trees and ArcTanGent as well as opening slots for ZEAL & ARDOR and VILLE VALO (the latter at the Royal Albert Hall) alongside the release of their debut self-titled album. The synth-rock duo takes to the stage atop separate raised platforms, resplendent in full goth face paint and outfits; their microphone stands draped in chains. The early crowd are treated to a succession of thumping slow-tempo goth tunes – crunching power chords underneath soaring synth pads and soft harmonised vocals.
The live guitar and synth-deck combination works well. It helps that ZETRA have an excellent ear for melody and drama, particularly on set opener Sacrifice. The palm-muted builds and widescreen chorus in the likes of The Mirror translate well amidst the backlit fog. There is a flair for the dramatic too – the duo descend their plinths to conduct a summoning ritual from a portal backdrop in a mid-set break. For the most part, the programmed drum backing is unobtrusive, though the blast beats in the closer induce some dissonance to the broader energy of the set. It’s a confident showing from a band on the rise.
Rating: 8/10
The fog on stage clears for GOST, samples of Satanic panic radio broadcasts building tension before the band emerge bathed in red light. Frontman James Lollar leads proceedings, dressed up in a Ghost Rider-esque costume, all leathers and skull mask. It’s a kinetic display, eschewing any live delivery of vocals in favour of physical hype, often moving to centre stage from behind the synths to wordlessly rile up the crowd into a frenzy. His only accompaniment on stage is the bassist, relentlessly playing at speed without pause.
GOST blend a mix of dark synth-wave and extreme dance & electronic elements – that 80s throwback PERTURBATOR style, but cut with a little more menace and ambient horror. Live, it presents as an attention-deficit cyberpunk rave. There are frequent and wild shifts in tone, often rapidly and without warning mid-song. It can sometimes be hard to track, but it’s incredible fun, especially when the band hits those rave tempos. The crowd are certainly game for it, regularly bouncing along to the nightmarish soundtrack.
Rating: 9/10
And so the Rat-Based Warfare begins. The trio of HEALTH present a curious synthesis. Much attention is lathered on Famiglietti, who takes up some 75% of the stage running about, whipping his hair around, the focal point of energy for the band. But there’s an impressive tightness to the musicianship. The precision-tooled drumbeats are replicated without fault live by B. J. Miller, whether in the machine-gun assault on the senses double-time of Crack Metal or the metronomic pace of Ashamed. Jake Duzsik‘s soft vocals sit in juxtaposition to the abrasive sonic instrumentation, at their best when they cut to the heart in bitterness or restrained emotion. That carries through into an introverted performance – equally as compelling as Famiglietti‘s histrionics, a dark complement. His guitar work is excellent, too – mountains of industrial over-compression not killing its brutal impact.
Somehow, the band packs 20 songs into a set lasting just over an hour. It’s an efficient performance with minimal crowd interaction, beyond Famiglietti throwing his cat ears to the crowd. There are cuts from across the back catalogue, including the band’s Max Payne 3 soundtrack and a DEFTONES cover of Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away). The lion’s share of attention is on last year’s Rat Wars, which presents a step up in songwriting and vision. The crowd are in agreement, reserving their biggest reactions for the night for the hands-in-the-air chorus of Ashamed, and uncontrolled moshing and pogo-ing to Hateful.
That lack of crowd interaction does nothing to dampen the enthusiasm, with an enormous circle pit opening unprompted mid-set between songs. The transition at that point into Demigods – the cavernous, epic opener from Rat Wars – kicks off an extreme slow-tempo mosh. Rarely do the energy levels drop. It’s an assured performance from a band moving from strength to strength.
Rating: 9/10
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