Health - Vol 4: Slaves of Fear

Few artists are better prepared to confront the confusion of life in 2019 than L.A.-based band Health. With its new album, Vol. 4: Slaves of Fear, the trio has not only made the heaviest, most genre-obliterating record of its career. They've documented just how frightening it feels to be alive right now. From the sample-triggered thrash metal of "The Message" and "God Botherer," to the bone-scraping sub-bass of "Feel Nothing," and "Black Static," this is Health at its most lacerating yet. With Lars Stalfors, they've upended their sound palette for our post-everything era: "NC-17" feels like Arabic bass music dragged through hell; "Rat Wars" groans with derelict, slow-rolling L.A. funk. The LP uses every tool in contemporary production to make a terrifying, exhilarating thrill ride. But beneath all of that, it also boasts some of the most vulnerable and evocative songwriting of Health's career. In the lyrics, singer Jake Duzsik confronts death, isolation and hopelessness with an uncommon candor and intimacy. Album closer, "Decimation," is the most radical move in the band's catalog to date: a gorgeous guitar ballad, a plea for purpose and meaning in a time that makes both feel impossible.