Industrial pop-rock act Health have released an expanded version of 2023 album Rat Wars, featuring a never-before-heard collaboration with Filter.
The team-up, Free To Die, came out today (October 17) along with the rest of the reissued album. Other songs added to the tracklisting are Deftones cover Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away), a version of Ashamed featuring Chvrches singer Lauren Mayberry, and The Drain featuring Bad Omens. Listen to Rat Wars Ultra Edition below.
Rat Wars was originally released in December 2023 to positive reviews. Metal Hammer’s Stephen Hill awarded the album four stars and called it “the most personal, cathartic and brutal record of [Health’s] career”. It featured collaborations with Lamb Of God on the song Children Of Sorrow and Godflesh on Sicko.
Health formed in 2005 as a noise rock band, but gradually began shifting to more melodic, industrial and metal-influenced tones. Singer/guitarist Jake Duzsik explained Rat Wars’ dark pop sound in an interview with this writer for Stereoboard.
“If I were picking my 100 favourite songs, there’d probably be, like, six that are in a major key,” he said. “What I relate with is unilaterally dark, but there has to be melodicism to it. I have an appreciation for things that are just heavy for the sake of being heavy, or something that’s twee and bubblegum and pop, but they just exist in and of themselves. Neither of those things tend to leave an impression.”
Health are currently touring Europe, supported by Gost and Zetra. They perform at The Garage in Glasgow, Scotland, tonight. See the full list of upcoming dates below.
Filter, who were founded by Patrick upon his exit from Nine Inch Nails in 1993, released their first album in seven years, The Algorithm, last August via Golden Robot.
Health 2024 European tour dates:
Oct 17: Glasgow The Garage, UK
Oct 18: Dublin Opium, Ireland
Oct 22: Paris La Machine du Moulin Rouge, France
Oct 23: Winterthur Gaswerk Kulturzentrum, Switzerland
Oct 24: Munchen Backstage Halle, Germany
Oct 25: Vienna Szene, Austria
Oct 26: Budapest A38, Hungary
Oct 27: Prague Fuchs2, Czech Republic
Oct 28: Warsaw Progresja, Poland
Oct 29: Leipzig UT Connewitz, Germany
Oct 30: Berlin Hole 44, Germany
