Following their highly successful and long-awaited return to Australia in 2023 for Dark Mofo and a limited couple of sideshows, the enigmatic noise rock-cum-industrial metal trio that is HEALTH returned home to LA to prepare for the release of their seventh full-length album Rat Wars. Having begun the process of reinventing themselves as a heavy band several records ago, Rat Wars is a dystopian, painfully horny fever dream that may just be the zenith of their evolution – HEALTH at its most fully formed after years of collaboration and experimentation, all the while cultivating a passionate fan base that not only follows their every move, but actively takes part in the band’s extremely online community. Having immediately followed up on the December 2023 release of Rat Wars by supporting modern metal icons Sleep Token all over Europe, including at their gigantic sold out show at Wembley Stadium, the band soon embarked with their most successful US headline tour yet, and now prepares to bring the rat wars to Australia for the next stage of their campaign…
Joining them on all dates is the Brisbane-based artist Zheani, whose rise has been similarly meteoric in recent years. To call her a rapper, while somewhat fitting, would betray the eclectic and violent mix of hip-hop, metal, industrial, synth-pop, emo and hardcore influences that makes up her truly next-generation music and stunning imagery represented by her 2023 sophomore album The Spiritual Meat Grinder and 2024 single Spoils of War. Selling out her own headline shows in Australia, the USA and Europe, and even supporting Limp Bizkit in Melbourne over the last year, the Rat-Based Warfare Down Under Tour may be one of your last chances to see Zheani in a club setting before she truly lifts off to the stars.
Experimental drum & bass artist Joshua Wells (Nerve, AR53 Records) and extreme metal vocalist Karina Utomo (KILAT, Rinuwat, High Tension) present their latest duo performance as a new look at largely improvised electronic rhythms and exploratory voicing. The project focuses on live drum machine manipulations paired with extreme vocal dissonance. The creation is a discordant cacophony of textural dark, techno landscapes narrated with shatteringly acute vocal ranging.
These shows promise to be unforgettable nights that showcase heavy music as a force that doesn’t have to be brutal and macho to be gripping and eviscerating. May the Rat Wars purge this continent. Long live the Rat Wars.
Photos By Charlyn Cameron
Health
Zheani
Joshua Wells & Karina Utomo
