Halestorm

Back From The Dead

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Genre: Hard Rock.
Released: 06/05/2022
Via Atlantic Recording Corporation

Album Review: Halestorm – Back From The Dead

It’s been 4 years since Halestorm last dropped a full-length album so it comes as no surprise to anyone that the excitement surrounding ‘Back From The Dead’ has reached a boiling point. The Pennsylvania base rock quartet has become a huge deal in their respected genre due to their consistency of quality from both recordings and live shows (Why not check out our review of their show in London here!). Here are my thoughts on Halestorm’s new album!

Kicking the album off is the title track ‘Back From The Dead’, an infectious song that boasts a prominent beat layered with a simple yet effective guitar. As for the feel of the song, It’s a pretty solid rock track that follows the classic structure of verse, chorus, and verse with a subtle breakdown in momentum right before the introduction of the short yet sweet guitar solo. Following on in a similar vein is ‘Wicked Ways’. A mixture of raspy shouting and clean vocals create a nice amount of contrast while the chorus is simplistic and memorable enough to get stuck in your head for a while (this is a common theme throughout the album).

Dialling up the heaviness is ‘Strange Girl’ as it ditches the more pop-driven beat for a more in your face cathartic one. The song follows a repeating formula which hooks the lister in. In the latter half of the track, the mood changes to a more angelic tone before returning abruptly back to the more aggressive style. ‘Brightside’ utilizes short bursts of guitar during the opening to catch your attention before unveiling a more easy listening chorus. Once again the song seems to repeat its melody throughout but it really does work well for this style of music.

Up next is ‘The Steeple’ which has already become a fan favourite ever since the single dropped around 2 months ago. A very memorable chorus that is just begging for a venue full of fans to scream the words back to the band is the highlight of this one. Slowing down the tempo of the album is ‘Terrible Things’, the first acoustic track on the album that really allows Lzzy Hale to show off her vocal range. The delicately played instrumental compliments her pitch throughout the track. The more sombre feeling is quickly changed back into a more angsty one as ‘My Redemption’ comes in swinging. This track is a solid entry to the album that shows off some great drumming and instrumental work.

As we enter the later stages of the album ‘Bombshell’ adds a certain explosive feel to the album. The bass-driven song is one of the stand out tracks on the album in my opinion. Everything from its structure to execution flows nicely and I found myself wanting to relisten to this one much more than any other song on the record. ‘I Come First’ follows and brings a nice vibe along with it. It’s one of those tracks that makes you move along to its beat without you even realizing it. I highly recommend giving this one a try.

Nearing the end of the album is ‘Psycho Crazy’ which is the type of song you’d expect to come from Halestorm. An impactful track with direct and to the point lyrics that can’t really be interpreted any other way seems very fitting considering the band’s previous releases. Closing out the album is ‘Raise Your Horns’, a piano-based track that shows off Lzzy’s higher notes while being a homage to rock music as a whole. It’s quite a beautiful song musically and I couldn’t think of a more fitting end to the album.

Halestorm has returned with one of its strongest albums in recent times. I personally believe the song’s on this release have the potential to take the band to that next level as there isn’t a weak track to be heard. Seeing how successfully ‘The Steeple’ and ‘Back From The Dead’ have already been as singles there is no reason this album shouldn’t go down as one of the band’s biggest.