“Terrible Things” is a sad but eerily accurate description of the world we live in. While offering a softer, more mellow side to the album, “Terrible Things” and “Raise Your Horns” see deep emotion, intensity as well as powerful vocals that rip right through to your heart. If you want crazy, I’ll give you psycho!” I’ll get sick in the head and show you what you don’t know. Keep pushing, keep pushing, pushing on me. Keep coming at me, keep coming, you’ll see. Think you control me, don’t know what you’re in for. “If you want a battle, I’ll give you a war. “Psycho Crazy” is Hale’s expression that she’s sick and tired of people trying to fix her. “You better suck it up, suck it up! You’re never gonna shut me up, shut me up! Baby I’m a bombshell! I’ll light you up like a bombshell!” “Bombshell” is explosive and the lyrics are just in your face. Ridicule me to feel like I’m your deepest threat, you say “she’s such a strange girl, such a strange girl!” The world is strange girls, just like me!” You can throw me to the wolves, you can burn me in the flame and say ‘she’s such a strange girl, such a strange girl!’ The world is strange girls, just like me! Kiss me and abandon me, write me off for dead. “So you can damn me straight to hell, you can crucify my name. “Would you call me daughter? Would you love me when my halo’s bent and crooked…” Could this be the song that Hale referred to in an interview from Loud Wire in February about a teenage girl living at home with her parents and came out as gay? The parents’ response was cold, hateful, and frankly, disgusting. “Strange Girl” sees Hale expressing her disgust with those that mistreat others because of their identity and because they live who they are without fear. The nights of darkness I will never betray!” I swore allegiance to the fire in my heart. “Wicked Ways” is a message from Hale saying that she won’t change who she is for anyone.
The fire that comes from tracks like “Wicked Ways”, “Strange Girl”, “Bombshell” and “Psycho Crazy”, will be enough to leave you scorched, yet coming back for more! Hale holds absolutely nothing back from start to finish, showing the versatility of one of the most iconic voices in the hard rock world. Not only does “Back From the Dead” knock you out with a sonic and vocal assault, it’s an emotional roller coaster. The lead single “Back From the Dead” opens up this monster album with Hale’s insanely amazing vocals screaming, “I’m back from the dead!” This song is a perfect intro for an album that is about confronting and tackling the stigma of mental health, self-discovery, self identification and not being afraid of shining the light that we all have by being who we really are, without fear of being marginalized for it. I also find the band to be more in tune with each other than ever before. Whether belting out at the top of her lungs during the heavier parts of the album, to the drawn back and more soft vocals for the lighter moments, Hale has yet again raised the bar, both vocally and musically.
Very few hard rock singers bring to the table what Hale’s vocals are capable of, but this album sees, for me, her best and most dynamic performance to date. Not only are Hale’s vocals stronger than ever, you can feel the pain and emotion pouring out of her, whether in her powerhouse moments or even in her softer moments. In a press release, Hale states about the album that it’s “a journey of navigating mental health, debauchery, survival, redemption, rediscovery and still maintaining faith in humanity.” While Halestorm has always been far from dead, this album sees the band in an even stronger light that they’ve grown into throughout these last two years, and is their way of saying “We’re back!” As a result of being thrown into the heart of lockdowns and a global pandemic, this album is empowering, in your face, really heavy, and most importantly, a relentless anthem to all of those who have been silenced, ignored, hated, and demoralized by the hate that is spreading faster and faster as the days go on. The result of that deep dive is “Back From the Dead”. Clawing her way through some of the darkest times of Covid lockdown, Lzzy decided to use music as she used to – as a way to get her through the misery and isolation she was feeling during these very dark times. “Back From the Dead”, the follow up to their fourth studio release “Vicious”, sees Lzzy digging deeper than ever before. Halestorm has consistently gone against the grain, and has been tearing down walls of division while always staying true to themselves in the process. Not only did they quickly become an icon in the hard rock world, but they created a world where fans could come as they are. Halestorm came screaming onto the scene in 1998. Grammy-winning hard rock band Halestorm is set to release their latest work, and I wasn’t ready for the power and emotion that “Back From the Dead” invokes.