FROM THE VAULT: Death Magic by Health (149)

THIS WEEK we're opening our vault to unleash this rather, erm, SPIRITED discussion about Health and their 3rd album, Death Magic. It is, in many ways, a fun encapsulation of the way this podcast used to be. Which is to say, divisive.

This we recorded in the in period in between lockdowns during the pandemic so we'll leave it to you to decide whether the weirdness of that entire period contributes to the atmosphere of this episode.

We're also blowing the cobwebs off this bad boy because in a little under two weeks Health will play Damnation Festival 2026 in Manchester. We'll be in attendance, so if you see us come say hi!

Next week normal service resumes as we bring Dave back (again?!) to talk about Damnation headliners Satyricon.

Original shownotes:

This week we take a critical look at the discography of LA noise/electronic/pop/metal/dance/whatever band Health from good ol’ Los Angeles. Perhaps best known to some as noise rock band, their sound has changed a fair bit over the years. After releasing two acclaimed DIY noise type records they went away and did the soundtrack to Max Payne 3. When they returned years later they had fully embraced the electronics that they had begun to incorporate in their second album “Get Color” and fully enhanced their presence within their music.

Of course, that’s only part of the story. They’re a band who had always had a penchant for a remix or two - indeed every album of theirs has had an accompanying remix record called DISCO - so to say their movement into the realms of industrial and electronica was a surprise would of course be an understatement.

On this episode we chat about their third album Death Magic. Things get a bit heated this week as - shocker - we don’t agree on this album at all. But hey, that’s the kinda content you’re here for right?