"As any gamer who's sunk 75-plus hours into Cyberpunk 2077 or Red Dead Redemption 2 can tell you, what feels like an environment of limitless potential and unlimited space to roam does, in fact, have borders. It's scripted and designed in the hopes of keeping you content within its containment. And should you begin to bristle at the constraints, to realize that you're not as free as you imagined,"
"This is a group that cheekily estimates 85 percent of its audience has a Steam account; it's a gamer's band. And on the surface, CONFLICT DLC appears to be subordinate to its predecessor: Its cover mirrors that of RAT WARS, its tracklist is presented as sides C and D to that album's A and B. CONFLICT DLC sustains the heavier, poppier sound of RAT WARS, too."
CONFLICT DLC is HEALTH's sixth album of original material and a continuation of the world forged on 2023's RAT WARS. The record mirrors RAT WARS' artwork and positions its tracklist as sides C and D to that album's A and B while sustaining a heavier, poppier sound. The album stages a critique of living in a technologically mediated world that presents itself as infinite possibility while extracting data and capital and exposing listeners to corrosive ideas. The music mixes industrial nu-metal aggression with electronic elements, and songs like "Thought Leader" dramatize late-night phone anxiety and manipulation.
Read at Pitchfork
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