Health / O2 Institute / Birmingham

Another trip over to England’s second city and to the O2 Institute for the visit of Health on their “Rat-Based Warfare Tour”. Health are a band I’ve wanted to see live for some time, and what hypes up the excitement level even more is the support lineup, with noise-rockers Zetra and synthwave Gost.

First up are Zetra. The stage is set up with two podiums either side of a giant screen in the middle as they step out and up through the smoke effect on to the podiums, resplendent in black and white gothic makeup, dressed all in black. It was great to see so many of their fans in the crowd also with the eerie make up, which really added to the atmosphere. Their use of lighting was fantastic too, with spots shining through the large screen, casting swirling patterns off the roof and walls.

Whats come next is a blistering 30min set of distorted chords and riffs and synth tones, intertwined perfectly, creating a dark gothic canvas for the vocals to drift over. Its beautifully melodic, no screaming here, just perfectly crafted industrial gothic music.

The London two-piece of Adam (guitar & vocals) and Jordan (synths & vocals) have been around since 2018 and have developed a confident and polished set underpinned by the dark gothic drum machine sound, it sits well behind the almost angelic vocals. The tracks have an almost dream like style to them and I was impressed with how they fuse the guitar and synth elements so effectively.

The early crowd were certainly in for a treat and Zetra didn’t disappoint. A fantastic set, that sets the scene so well for whats to come next.

Next up are Gost and boy what a set we get ! The two piece deliver an incredible and brutal 30min set of metal and dark synth sounds. The stage is dark and smokey making it hard to grab any decent photos as Texas based producer and multi-instrumentalist James Lollar steps out and up to the keyboards dressed head to toe in black with a skull mask shrouded by a black hood.

There sound is something between black metal and the darker end of the electronic dance music scene. At times I was reminded of Aphex Twin and his idiosyncratic works.

The latest album “Prophecy” has a much more aggressive and sinister edge to it. Its an adrenaline fuelled journey into the decay of modern society.

James is animated behind the keyboards, stomping around in a raw and powerful performance, now supported by a bass player who delivers some gut wrenching deep dark tones that shake the soul.

It’s intense, it’s relentless and it’s magnificent ! Gost are a live tour de force and a performance I have to experience again soon.

Health is an American industrial/noise rock band from the underground experimental scheme in Los Angeles, California the band are Jake Duzsik (guitar & vocals), John Famiglietti (bass & synth) and B.J. Miller (drums). They gained wider prominence with a remix of Crimewave by Crystal Castles before releasing a self-titled album in 2007. They’ve release five more albums since with 2009’s “Get Color”, 2015’s “Death Magic”, 2019’s “Vol. 4: Slaves of Fear” and their most recent release, 2023’s “Rat Wars” in 2023. They’ve also featured prominently in the soundtracks for some of the most icon computer games in recent years, including Cyberpunk 2077 and Grand Theft Auto V.

Health’s sound is hard to pigeonhole, and has been described as anything from Noise Rock, to Industrial Rock, Experimental or Electronic Rock and Electro-Industrial. Interestingly Duzsik himself has described it as simply a “primitive soundscape" influenced heavily ay sci-fi movies and a vision of a dystopian future (think Bladerunner / Cyberpunk).

Tonight’s setlist is a journey through their 17 year career from the earlier experimental form of Zoothorns from their 2007 self-titled debut, through to the more industrial sounding Crack Metal from “Rat Wars”.

The dystopian theme was enhanced by the dark confines of institute 2, smoke effects and some minimalist lighting, mainly backlighting casting dark shadows. With John switching between bass and keys and BJ banging out a thunderous beat, it creates a powerful backdrop for the haunting vocal styling of Duzsik.

Health are one of those bands that are great on vinyl, but come into their own in the live environment, with the live sound injecting more random ‘noise’ than the clearer synth tones on recording, demonstrated well by John using a mic linked to a series of guitar pedals to add a strong of distorted, static like sounds to the audio sensation. The whole sound sends vibrations running through you, its absolutely electric !

There’s something to please everyone on display, touching on everything from metal, industrial, shoegaze and noise, Health are a real treat live. For me, no one track stood out, but several took my attention, including Pyschonaut, Future of Hell and Demigods.

The intensity levels never dropped from start to finish and the crowd are engrossed. Towards the end of the set, we got a brilliant cover of the Deftones hit Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) which was followed by a string of fan favourites that had the crowd bouncing including Tears, We Are Water and Feel Nothing.

The set ended with the every popular and thunderous DSM-V, introduced by its iconic repeated triple tom hit intro before bursting into live with a powerful and rich guitar riff, and an intense very Rammstein-like vibe, underpinning a synth and vocal performance almost Placebo-like. Its one of my favourite Health tracks and they don’t disappoint with the pounding and anvil-strike beat which has the crowd dancing as one.

No encore with Health, they deliver a full set and depart, leaving the audience begging for more. Three different takes on gothic / industrial synth metal, but all working so well in harmony. This is a night that will live long in the memory.

Setlist

Identity

God Botherer

Crack Metal

Men Today

Hateful

Pyschonaut

Stonefist

New Coke

Future of Hell

Demigods

Major Crimes