Home > Album Review > HEALTH “Max Payne 3” | Rockstar

HEALTH “Max Payne 3” | Rockstar

July 15, 2012 Leave a comment Go to comments

It was surprising for me to find HEALTH making a soundtrack for the new Max Payne video game a couple of months ago, and even more surprising to find myself really enjoying it. Of course, it is a video game soundtrack but it plays like a movie score done by a more texture-driven HEALTH.

No album has been released since Get Color. The problem with Get Color is that it left me wanting more HEALTH, and of course, out came the disco 2 and tons of remixes of their songs. But no new LP.

When I saw a post for their song “Tears”, I guess a sort of single for the Max Payne 3 video game, I was immediately hooked.  But “Tears” is pretty much the closest the album comes to Get Color or any other HEALTH release. And it’s a good thing.

HEALTH does what Trent Reznor did to Quake. They make a dark, cavernous, almost kraut-driven sort of soundtrack for a video game, that is if I recall correctly, a series based on vengeance.

They move around guitar loops, preachy- shamanistic moaning vocals and tribal 3-d drums that actualize the listener in a movie of its own. The best part about it is that the cheese from video game soundtracks is utilized for its artistic properties. HEALTH are masters of creating webs of noisy guitar that are ultimately somehow completely controlled, tamed and then made dancy. They are masters of frequencies and psychotic drumming. They are terrific with minimalistic, textured vocals. All of these principles brought together make a damn good video game soundtrack that is a very pleasant surprise.

-Xavi Vil

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