HEALTH today announced their new album VOL. 4 :: SLAVES OF FEAR will be released February 8th, 2019 via Loma Vista Recordings. Produced by longtime collaborator Lars Stalfors (Lil Peep, St. Vincent, Bob Moses), the album’s first single “SLAVES OF FEAR” is out worldwide today alongside a Zev Deans-directed video.
The LA-based band of Jacob Duzsik, John Famiglietti, and Benjamin Miller — who recently played a sold-out surprise show at LA’s Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever and already sold-out an intimate NYC show on January 23rd at Brooklyn’s Elsewhere Zone One — also today announced a headlining North American tour. Shows include an NYC show at Elsewhere The Hall on April 25th and LA’s Teragram Ballroom on May 10th. Tickets go on-sale Friday, December 14th at 10am EST. VOL. 4 :: SLAVES OF FEAR is now available for pre-order here.
HEALTH has always pushed the edges of aggression. From its twitchy 2007 debut, through its groundbreaking 2012 score for Rockstar Games’ Max Payne 3 and Grand Theft Auto V’s original “High Pressure Dave,” to 2015’s acclaimed LP DEATH MAGIC, the L.A. band snuck beauty and rigor into blinding noise. They draped moody violence over trap beats and warehouse raves alike.
Few artists were better prepared to confront the confusion of life in 2019. With its new album VOL. 4 :: SLAVES OF FEAR, the trio has not only made the heaviest, most genre-obliterating album 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.
VOL. 4 :: SLAVES OF FEAR uses every tool in contemporary production to make a terrifying, exhilarating LP. But beneath all of that, VOL. 4 :: SLAVES OF FEAR also has 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.
Over the last year, the band hinted at a new range and ambitiousness. Shows with black-metallers Deafheaven and R&B-savvy rockers The Neighbourhood led to single collaborations with indie heroes Purity Ring and Soccer Mommy (“MASS GRAVE”), French techno brutalist Perturbator (“BODY/PRISON”), and L.A. industrial fiends Youth Code (“INNOCENCE”), with plenty more to come.
VOL. 4 :: SLAVES OF FEAR Tracklist:
1. PSYCHONAUT
2. FEEL NOTHING
3. GOD BOTHERER
4. BLACK STATIC
5. LOSS DELUXE
6. NC-17
7. THE MESSAGE
8. RAT WARS
9. STRANGE DAYS (1999)
10. WRONG BAG
11. SLAVES OF FEAR
12. DECIMATION
HEALTH – TOUR DATES:
01/23 – Brooklyn, NY – Elsewhere Zone One (SOLD-OUT)
01/30 – Brixton, UK – O2 Academy Brixton *
01/31 – Amsterdam, NL – Melkweg *
02/01 – Cologne, DE – Palladium *
02/03 – Hamburg – Docks *
02/04 – Berlin, DE – Huxleys *
02/06 – Prague, CZ – Forum Karlin *
02/07 – Warsaw, PL – Torwar *
02/09 – Vilnius, LT – Compensa Concert Hall *
02/11 – Tallinn, EE – Saku Arena *
02/12 – Riga, LV – Arena Riga *
02/14 – Moscow, RU – Megasport Arena*
02/15 – Prague, CZ – Meet Factory
02/16 – Warsaw, PL – Hybrydy
02/20 – Oslo, NO – Bla
02/21 – Gothenburg, SE – Oceanen
02/27 – Frankfurt, DE – Nachtleben
02/28 – Munich, DE – Feierwerk
03/01 – Leipzig, DE – Täubchenthal
03/02 – Berlin, DE – So36
03/04 – Brussels, BE – AB
03/05 – Lille, FR – Aéronef
03/06 – Utrecht, NL – EKKO
03/07 – Groningen, NL – Vera
03/08 – Lyon, FR – Festival Transfer, Transbordeur
03/09 – Paris, FR – Badaboum
03/12 – Bordeaux, FR – Iboat
03/14 – Milan, IT – Circolo Magnolia
03/15 – Rome, IT – Traffic Live
03/16 – Bologna, IT – Freakout Club
03/17 – Torino, IT – Spazio211
03/19 – Lausanne, CH – Le Romandie
03/20 – Luzern, CH – Konzerthaus Schüür
03/22 – Luxembourg, LU – Rotondes
03/24 – Manchester, UK – YES
03/25 – Leeds, UK – Brudenell
03/26 – Glasgow, UK – CCA
03/27 – Bristol, UK – The Exchange
03/28 – London, UK – Oval Space
03/29 – Cardiff, UK – Clwb ifor Bach
03/30 – Brighton, UK – Patterns
04/09 – Oakland, CA – The New Parish
04/10 – San Francisco, CA – The Independent
04/12 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
04/13 – Vancouver, BC – Venue Nightclub
04/14 – Seattle, WA – Neumos
04/16 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
04/17 – Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater
04/19 – Saint Paul, MN – Amsterdam Bar & Grill
04/20 – Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge
04/21 – Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop
04/22 – Detroit, MI – El Club
04/23 – Toronto, ON – Velvet Underground
04/25 – Brooklyn, NY – Elsewhere The Hall
04/26 – Boston, MA – The Sinclair
04/27 – Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts
04/28 – Washington, DC – Rock N Roll Hotel
04/30 – Atlanta, GA – Masquerade – Purgatory
05/01 – Baton Rouge, LA – Spanish Moon
05/02 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall
05/03 – Austin, TX – Mohawk
05/04 – Dallas, TX – Club Dada
05/06 – Santa Fe, NM – Meow Wolf
05/07 – Phoenix, AZ – Valley Bar
05/10 – Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom
*supporting The Neighbourhood
Photo credit: Raymond Flotat
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