Words by Jess Asher

Released: 11 December 2025

Concord Music

I began this album review as all good album reviews do, lights off, staring at my ceiling the album playing full blast through my speakers as someone who has seen Health live. This is certainly a great contrast to how I usually enjoy their music, near breaking an ankle in a mosh pit of sweaty heavy metal enthusiasts that are bigger and scarier than me. But that’s not to say that the fan base of Health aren’t also goth girlies, or that I didn’t jam out in my room writing this.

I first saw Health at their show with Zheani playing the Brightside in 2024. I fell in love with their energy, the stage presence, and of course, the luscious long hair of Johnny Health that made me want to stop bleaching my hair and grow it out. 

CONFLICT DLC opens with ‘Ordinary Loss‘, a perfect entry point into the record’s atmosphere. It sets the tone with a slow-burn build- moody, melodic, and deceptively gentle, before ending in the crispy, distorted screams Health fans know and love. It’s the kind of opener that feels like the moment the world starts cracking open, perfect for the start of this new era. 

Then comes ‘Burn the Candles‘, which leans into this almost EDM-trance pulse but cloaked in a gothic haze. 

‘Vibe Cop‘ pulls us right back to classic heavy Health. It wouldn’t feel out of place on RAT WARS. The mechanical percussion, the suffocating synth layers, the beautifully cold heaviness. It’s nostalgic without being derivative.

The album has already been described as “a slate of sad bangers for the end times,” and honestly? Fair. If I were in an apocalypse, zombies closing in, trying to decide whether to sacrifice myself or make one final break for it – this would be the soundtrack playing in the background. It’s catastrophic music for people who feel too much… so classic Health fans (me too don’t worry).

‘Trash Decade‘ is still my personal favourite on first listen. You can feel Knocked Loose producer Drew Fulk’s involvement immediately; the mix is thick, metallic, and violent in a way that stands out even in Health’s discography. One of the heaviest instrumentals here, and the emotional weight keeps pace with the sonic brutality. An absolute banger.

I could write a whole analysis on ‘Torture II‘. A spiritual sequel to ‘Torture‘, the 2012 instrumental created for video game Max Payne 3. Where the original track felt like a melancholic pause in the hero’s journey, or something amidst the second act. ‘Torture II‘ is the grim aftermath. It’s heavier, more suffocating, drenched in reverb and driven by a bassline that feels like the floor dropping out beneath you. If ‘Torture‘ (2012) was Act II, wounded but hopeful, ‘Torture II‘ is the moment the light finally goes out.

‘Antidote‘ feels perhaps the most lyrically simple but almost a love letter. There’s something quite vulnerable and tender in the simplicity and I really appreciated its place on the album.

‘Darkage‘, the emotional opposite to ‘Antidote‘. This one feels like heartbreak wrapped in anger: someone or something has hollowed you out from the inside, and you only realized the damage once it was too late. It’s jagged, corrosive, and quietly furious. A standout.

‘Shred Envy‘ is an absolute banger. This track moves through the stages of grief at full sprint.
The screams are blistering, the guitar work is unhinged, and the whole thing feels like being hit with both rage and acceptance at once.
Paired with ‘Darkage‘, the two feel like a dual-narrative: one tells the story of anger and collapse; the other, the shock and despair that follow.
Live, this is going to rip the floor apart. The wall of death and sweaty mosh pit is going to be incredible.

Don’t hate me dear readers, but ‘You Died’ gives The Neighbourhood energy. It’s vibey, smooth, and atmospheric, but compared to the emotional devastation of the tracks before it, it lands a little lighter, almost filler adjacent. Still enjoyable, just repetitive.

‘Thought Leader‘ feels like the “thesis” of the album. A track of depression, anxiety, compulsion – but now with themes of a modern hyper-digital doomscrolling culture. It’s the “I give up” before the next track in the album, the moment the hero loses all hope. The final breath before…

“it’s all in your head…or not”

‘Don’t Kill Yourself‘ feels like a love letter to the fans, an acknowledgment of the people listening in the dark with headphones on because they don’t know who else to talk to. It’s an “I see you,” a quiet hand on the shoulder, and it’s one of the most vulnerable pieces and the most lyrically tragic. 

‘Wasted Years‘, the closing chapter, is a bittersweet reflection on everything built and everything lost. “We built a life together… how is it already gone?” It hits like a eulogy for what almost was.

Musically, Conflict DLC is a cinematic send-off: ‘Wasted Years‘ is a straight-up banger of a guitar-driven finale, stretching to six minutes. The solo soars, then slowly dissolves into near-silence before fading into a real live-recording soundscape- crowd noise, cheers, whistles, life. The sound of choosing to keep going. Because that’s what the ending is:
the decision to live after a long, brutal internal war.
It’s raw, cathartic, unexpectedly uplifting.
The ending had me emotional, Health took me on one hell of a journey, and even though it was a little bleak and depressing, I was still head banging and happy to be on the ride. 

Rating: 8/10

Purchase Conflict DLC here

HEALTH – Conflict DLC tracklisting:

01. ORDINARY LOSS  
02. BURN THE CANDLES  
03. VIBE COP  
04. TRASH DECADE  
05. TORTURE II  
06. ANTIDOTE 
07. DARKAGE  
08. SHRED ENVY  
09. YOU DIED 
10. THOUGHT LEADER  
11. DON’T KILL YOURSELF 
12. WASTED YEARS