death magic health album download Death magic health album download. Completing the CAPTCHA proves you are a human and gives you temporary access to the web property. What can I do to prevent this in the future? If you are on a personal connection, like at home, you can run an anti-virus scan on your device to make sure it is not infected with malware. If you are at an office or shared network, you can ask the network administrator to run a scan across the network looking for misconfigured or infected devices. Another way to prevent getting this page in the future is to use Privacy Pass. You may need to download version 2.0 now from the Chrome Web Store. Cloudflare Ray ID: 67aa44622b1784b0 • Your IP : 188.246.226.140 • Performance & security by Cloudflare. HEALTH. Death - the great equaliser, the unknown, the abyss. Musically, over the past six years, many bands, and even scenes, have sunken into the darkness. To quantify the six years HEALTH have taken between Get Color and Death Magic , bassist John Famiglietti amusingly stated in an interview with Pitchfork , “Witch house came and went”. Even bands from the LA Smell Scene, from which HEALTH emerged, have died slow and protracted deaths. Yet even in their silence (bar the release of OST Max Payne 3 ), HEALTH have remained surprisingly relevant. And with the release of Death Magic , HEALTH prove they are undoubtedly vital. Death Magic is unmistakably a pop record, with the proviso that it is created by a noise band. It completes a transition that was partially earmarked in Get Color and then well and truly signaled with the release of their cover of Pictureplane’s “Goth Star”. It’s position/personality as a pop record can be found within a lineage of records that have often taken underground and more inaccessible movements to create popular tangents. Death Magic can be seen as analogous to the likes of Depeche Mode ’s Construction Time Again or Black Celebration ; and Nine Inch Nail’s Pretty Hate Machine, which tempered and molded desolate, industrial soundscapes. HEALTH on the other hand have looked upon noise as their weapon of choice. Its creation can be characterised by two thematic elements: deconstruction/reconstruction; and consumption. Fans, or those familiar with HEALTH’s career, will hear sonic reference points including shards of noise that intersect the more melodious moments; Benjamin Jared Miller’s rolling toms; or the Indominous-Rex processed screams of Famiglietti and lead singer Jake Duzsik. It is however the way HEALTH have torn apart their sound and realigned the fragments that serves as one of the most fascinating and satisfying storylines of Death Magic. Noise frequents many of the tracks over its forty-minute playing-time, but not in the way found on much of Get Color or their eponymous debut-record. Their unholy noise has undergone a purposeful deconstruction - torn from all expectation - and its creators have used the salvage to create anew. The effects-ridden elements are now used as the key foundations to the “pop” structures found and also act as sonic counterfoil to more FM-friendly moments . “Stonefist” for example follows a discernible structure as it moves between verse and chorus, but its chorus is built on shocks of barbed synths. Seeping throughout Death Magic , one can also find the band’s consumption of musical and cultural trends. Much of the rhetoric surrounding the release of Death Magic from the band themselves has focused on what they describe as a musical “arms race” - the need to have the coolest, freshest sound. HEALTH evidently have consumed not only the shift in dance/bass music but have also feasted upon a pop landscape dominated by the likes of Rihanna, Perry, Swift et al. Coupled with their work for the soundtrack of Max Payne 3 and appreciation of performances from the aforementioned Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails , HEALTH have produced a record that breeds a confident and coherent progression to their brand of noise. They have created a pop record built for a doomed generation. At the centre of Death Magic , one will find two songs as sumptuous as anything HEALTH have ever laid to record - “Dark Enough” and “Life”. Both possess a propulsive and insistent shuffle, gluing the array of textures, reflective sounds and noise samples together. “Life”, with its tongue- twisting, ear-worm of a chorus is a joy to experience. Synths reminiscent of “Die Slow”’s opening statement brood in the background, while Duzsik affirms “Life is strange/But it’s all we got”. The prismatic “Life” also crystallises many of the existential lyrical paths trodden on Death Magic. “Dark Enough” examines cold-hearted and apathetic emotions with a questioning, “we cheat/so what?” and “does it make a difference how I feel/as long as I come back to you?”. The album closes on a further statement of pop intent. “L.A. Looks” bounces joyfully with an 80s new-wave indebted bass line, pushing HEALTH into the realm of the insatiably danceable. Whilst “L.A. Looks” beams delight, its subsequent siblings “Hurt Yourself” and “Drugs Exist” are stark and affecting beings. The former rises with choral-like samples, whilst the latter is built upon a staccato, scatter shot synth line. The lingering and sobering synth that closes “Drugs Exist” soundtracks the comedown after the post-apocalyptic parties of “Flesh World (UK)”, “Courtship II” and “Stonefist”. Dance music’s direct influence, in particular the rise of EDM, can be found throughout. Filtered and muted, a four-to-the-floor unfurls “Hurt Yourself” for example. Its greatest influence however can be found on “Flesh World (UK)”. Originally debuted circa 2013, its locomotive rhythm and persistent four-to-the-floor herald a new dynamic to HEALTH’s songwriting. Rising electronics majestically engulf before parting to a flurry of snares, as Duzsik exclaims “do all the drugs/we die/so what” and “we’re not here to find ourselves”. His ambivalence towards mortality is also an interesting and striking contrast to the nervous pondering of the after-life in “Life”. It marks a fitting soundtrack for a generation overtly keen on its ultimate goal - “having a good time ”. Lead singles “Stonefist” and “New Coke” both serve as excellent examples of the record’s sonic palette. For one Duzsik’s new crystalline, androgynous vox is found high in the mix. The mechanical hi-hat shuffle found on “New Coke” is also characteristic of much of Miller’s percussive work throughout the record, amongst the gargantuan war-drums that sound as Duzsik exclaims, “Let the bombs explode”. Both also showcase newfound pop motifs layered with dynamic noise. The tight curation of the record is not solely confined to the presentation of its lead singles but also found within opener “Victim”. Co-produced by The Haxan Cloak , it opens as the cinematic statement to the record, before triumphantly piercing uncomfortably shrill frequencies through Duzsik’s synthesised vocal. Although HEALTH luxuriate within the pop realm on Death Magic, they continually remind us of their noisier personality. Be this within the aforementioned textures, sampling or during full length aural bombardment. “Salvia”, informed from the dramatic shoot-outs of Max Payne 3, brutally ceases the record’s slower mid-segment with crazed percussion akin to the furious drums rolls of “Crimewave”. “Courtship II” also follows on from its named predecessor with pulsating bass as Duzsik sings “You hurt someone”. Growing in monstrous stature and building to a threatening and claustrophobic finale, Duzsik’s kaleidoscopic voice closes the track with the lucid, “we dream colours”. “Men Today” furthermore opens with the rolling toms of previous HEALTH records, spliced by violent noise and distorted screams. It also underlines the continual battle between light and dark found on Death Magic both sonically and lyrically. Duzsik’s vocal shines as an angelic and brilliant beacon of light, through the thunderstorm created around him. The record’s careful production successfully balances these sharp dynamic shifts and contrasts with poise and aplomb. Duzsik, on Death Magic , tackles existential notions of life and death with varied effect. HEALTH must be commended for employing a narrative that questions the moral and immoral; revels in the hedonistic and nihilistic; and at times questions the unanswerable - the nature and purpose of death. One however should not expect Kafka-esque wordplay and some may find the rhyming scheme employed irritating to a certain extent. “Life”, for example, builds to the somewhat unprofound “We die and we don’t know why”. Those expecting an unruly, chaotic album of noise may be disappointed - expectation and the failure to meet it will do this. Their absence, which will only have heightened this expectation, can be perfectly summarised by the band themselves: “We played with Iceage when they brought us over to Copenhagen for a DIY show in 2011, and now they have three albums - and we don’t even have three albums”. But unlike several of their peers (Iceage excluded, mind) who have rushed records, HEALTH have diligently crafted an astounding pop record. one which could be enjoyed for the next six years, if necessary. Death Magic. It's been over half a decade since HEALTH released a studio album, and Death Magic is a bold, albeit occasionally jarring, step forward. The band finally embraces the pop impulses that seem to have always been lurking in their DNA. Featured Tracks: One of the highlights of Nine Inch Nails' Lights in the Sky tour back in 2008 was the added pleasure of watching HEALTH—then a still relatively unknown bunch of L.A. noisemakers—manage to almost steal the show. Of all the acts that Trent Reznor picked to open dates on that tour, HEALTH seemed the like the most obvious heir apparent—a band using bizarro configurations of electronics and guitars to pummel the audience into submission. Theirs appeared to be a very Reznor-approved pursuit: technology employed in service of exploring some of the most base human impulses—to incite, to destroy, and to possibly cause deafness. It says something about the nature of HEALTH's music that of their now six proper full-length releases, two are remix albums (2008's Disco and 2010's Disco2 ) and one is the soundtrack to a video game (2013's surprisingly excellent Max Payne 3 ). In fact, their music has often flourished best in remix form. Hearing the band's music stripped and reworked by the likes of Gold Panda, Crystal Castles, and CFCF (whose sinewy reworking of Get Color 's "Before Tigers" remains a standout) shone a light on just what was frequently hidden underneath all of HEALTH's Boredoms-esque roar: namely vocalist Jacob Duzsik's feathery vocals and the band's nascent ear for melody. Given room to breathe, HEALTH's music reveals itself to be much more than "industrial disco"—it's also pop music. It's been over half a decade since they released a studio album, and Death Magic is a bold, albeit occasionally jarring, step forward. In a recent Pitchfork interview the band happily extolled the virtues of Depeche Mode and Rihanna, all of which makes the outré pop leanings of Death Magic more understandable. Given the early singles teased from the album, there was every reason to think that Death Magic might just be business as usual—and in some ways it is. The first single,"New Coke", materialized via a music video that featured high-intensity blasts of rafter-shaking low- end (not to mention the most lovingly filmed slow-motion vomit shots ever captured in a music video). Similarly, "Men Today" is a riot of barely corralled tribal drums, overdriven synths, and unpredictable beats. The track is pristinely produced and appropriately mountain-sized (Andrew Dawson and Lars Stalfors contribute production duties throughout), but it's not exactly a radical reinvention. Once you dig deeper into the record, however, the dark clouds begin to part. On Death Magic , the band finally embraces the pop impulses that seem to have always been lurking in their DNA. "Flesh World (UK)" comes swinging out of the gate like a house track—a dancefloor appropriate number with an appropriately grim chorus ("We die/ So what/ We're here") that only occasionally pauses to slam the listener face first into a wall of white noise before advising "Do all the drugs/ But don't hurt the ones you love." "Dark Enough" is a goth-pop power ballad in which Duzsik sings, "Does it make a difference if it's real?/ As long as I still say I love you?" It's the kind of sideways romantic admission that would have sounded out of place—or perhaps just totally unintelligible—on a previous HEALTH record. The band's biggest and most shocking pop moment comes just halfway through on "Life"—a song that flirts with stadium-size pop sentiments that would not be out of place on mainstream radio or, say, playing during the closing credits of a teenage romantic comedy. To hear a band like HEALTH offer the sentiment—"Life is strange/ We die and we don't know why/ I don't know what I want but I know that I don't know what want/ Nobody does"—feels both exhilarating and perverse. Longtime fans and noise purists might balk, but it's refreshing. The more vulnerable, pop-friendly moments on "Life" and the sparkly "L.A. Looks"—in which Duzsik admits,"It's not love, but I still want you"—make for a much more dynamic and oddly compelling listen than just 45 minutes of synthetic squall. Though they might bristle at the obvious comparison, it's hard not to notice the Reznorian qualities of Death Magic . With Nine Inch Nails Trent Reznor married the formlessness of industrial music to radio-friendly pop melodies. The 12 tracks on Death Magic do much the same, neatly splitting the difference between exquisitely detailed bombast (more than anything they've done before, it's a record that demands a huge stereo system and/or an excellent set of headphones) and something more human. While they still don't have to worry about somehow getting accidentally swept up in the mainstream—a fate unlikely for a band still making scary songs about drugs and releasing vomit-soaked visuals—with Death Magic HEALTH wisely manage to sidestep the errors of so many other ostensibly "heavy" bands, who often chase after extremity to the point of becoming humorless cartoons. After a while, even unremitting noise and relentless nihilism becomes rote and, frankly, kind of boring. Without the occasional beam of light, it's hard to actually appreciate how dark—or how good—a band like HEALTH can actually be. ProStudioMasters.com. High-resolution audio offers the highest-fidelity available, far surpassing the sound quality of traditional CDs. When you listen to music on a CD or tracks purchased via consumer services such as iTunes, you are hearing a low-resolution version of what was actually recorded and mastered in the studio. ProStudioMasters offers the original studio masters — exactly as the artist, producers and sound engineers mastered them — for download, directly to you. What do I need for playback? You may need additional software / hardware to take full advantage of the higher 24-bit high-res audio formats, but any music lover that has heard 16-bit vs 24-bit will tell you it's worth it! Health: Death Magic – album review. Death Magic is Health’s first new album since their 2009 release Get Color, though they also scored the 24-song soundtrack for the widely popular Max Payne 3 videogame, which has sold millions of copies, in 2012. So it’s safe to say this is an eagerly awaited album from the noise rock band. Lisa Sookraj reviews. Through the incorporation of electronic elements and more vocals, Get Color was notably more coherent than Health’s rock-driven noisy debut. As their 3rd album emerges, it’s clear that the high-contrast approach to the artful racket on Get Color was the band’s peak thus far – atmospheric, textured with clashing emotions, unnervingly calm vocals met harsh noise elements amidst interesting compositions. “Die Slow” was the highlight, a honed use of the collage sound the band mastered on their sophomore album, with its sustained-climax effect throughout the track and phat beats between buzzing jolts of industrial adrenaline. It was evocative, well-balanced, multi-dimensional and proved Health’s experimentalism was by choice, not an inability to produce a track with addictive properties. Death Magic takes things even further in that rather logical direction. More conventional, conscious and with more prominent vocals and melody, the cost is the loss of a considerable amount of Health’s experimentalism and boldness. The band has however kept with their previous two releases as far as evolving and keeping things stimulating, though this time their sound has moved into the territory of more club and radio-friendly EDM. At its best, the album has a darkwave meets trance feel with some patiently atmospheric concerns intact, at its worse, it has a more conventionally mainstream pop/EDM feel. Some of Death Magic ’s finer moments nod to the band’s melodic electronic and industrial heroes, Depeche Mode, Crystal Castles and NIN. What comes through even more notably are Health’s penchant for current pop and the influence of Kanye West engineer Andrew Dawson. Of course, Health haven’t created an album of trite top 40, but songs like “Life” and “L.A. Looks” in particular are the most radio-friendly tracks they’ve released to date by a longshot, exhibiting potential for use in cheesy commercials. Likewise, the heavily produced vocals on the pedestrian “Dark Enough” could belong to almost any pop artist today. The most successful tracks are those that consistently feel closest to Health’s pre-established experimental core – like the asymmetrical “Courtship II” with its slick switch in stride mid-track, the apocalyptic battle of jagged beats on “Salvia” and “Men Today” – or those that deliver a synth- pop/industrial hybrid sound, strongest on “Stonefist”. The scissoring rave beat that fiercely punctuates this song feels the way one might hope Health forging their way into danceable music would. If this approach wasn’t overshadowed on other tracks by the poppier production aspects, foremost vocal treatment (i.e. “Flesh World”’s sentimental, clubby chorus vs. the surrounding darker landscape) – the whole album would cut deeper. The title ‘noise rock band’ doesn’t seem fitting for Health anymore. They’ve largely shed this connotation, as while remnants of noise remain, they might be present as an obligation to old fans or as a bridging strategy. They’re sharp and polished through production, embedded within more commonplace song structures alongside sentimental melodies. Less complex and layered, Death Magic has the potential to widen Health’s reach to various sub genres of EDM outside of the niche indie/experimental/noise scene, likely losing at least some of those old fans in the process. Health’s previous two albums were largely for music nerds that could appreciate the band’s technical abilities and drastic deviations from convention. Their latest effort strays far enough from the norm to impress fans of mainstream electronic music open to change, but it’s less likely to satiate noise junkies who were waiting for something more extreme from the band. All words by Lisa Sookraj. More writing by Lisa on Louder Than War can be found at her author’s archive.