Back From the Dead

Product Information

My Redemption slowly brings us back to rock elements more frequently associated with Halestorm and while I wouldn’t suggest that My Redemption is a standout song, it’s another album-filling tune that ensures Back From The Dead remains a memorable album experience.

Naturally, it isn’t only Hale’s prowess on the microphone that makes such an impact for the band is on fire throughout this hard rock masterpiece. From the introductory salvo of crashing guitar chords and screamed-from-the-guts vocals, it’s clear that this is a new Halestorm.Nevertheless, it’s wonderful to hear modern hard rock music recorded, mixed, and mastered so well, for it is the exception rather than the norm. Halestorm's 2022 release, their fifth studio album Back From The Dead, is a triumphant album that is not only on par with their prior records, but in many respects trumps all that has come before.

While HALESTORM stick to their formula of easy-to-digest, relatively short rock songs — most under four minutes — on "Back From The Dead: Deluxe Edition", the songwriting and performance quality is top notch, proving why they're one of modern rock's most popular bands. Back From The Dead is a killer blues-based hard rock opener that sets the tone for the entire album. While I’ve yet to pick up a release on vinyl, the Hi-Res Lossless Apple Music stream, an Apple Digital Master, is simply exquisite. Hale’s incredible vocal is the magical element that ensures Wicked Ways is a highlight of the album.

That's apparent on "Terrible Things", a haunting ballad with Lzzy begging, "And there's a hole in my life / There's a blackness inside that's eating me alive / Leaving me to decide / Do I live with this pain?

According to Ed Ford of Rock N' Load, "If people wanted to know what the perfect rock album sounds like, give this a blast, you won’t hear much better. That said, as it pertains to the Dolby Atmos surround sound mix, also on Apple Music, it isn’t as hard-hitting and rocking as the stereo mix and sounds a little muddy in places. Alter Bridge, Halestorm, Neck Deep, Bob Vylan, Hot Milk, Palaye Royale, Jinjer and more join this year’s Download Festival. Halestorm began working on their fifth studio album slightly before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.On the scorching track, Lzzy kicks things off by proclaiming, "Tonight I'm going heavy metal," before launching into a grunge-inspired chorus and singing, "If you don't care, then I don't care!

When you find the musical elements that speak most to you, Bombshell quickly becomes a wonderful addition to the album and Halestorm’s expanded catalogue of music. While bands with strong vocalists sometimes sound as if they're competing against the guitars, in HALESTORM, the two are perfectly married, not clashing but instead working together, supporting one another.Not only does she have some of hard rock's most commanding pipes, but Lzzy's guitar playing abilities are uniquely exceptional. Meanwhile, while HALESTORM aren't known as a band that uses a lot of expletives, that's not the case on "Heavy MeNtal (F**k Yeah)" , which drops quite a few f-bombs. Wayne Parry of ABC News noted that "Hale manages to pull it off with a deft songwriting touch and a surprising sense of melody that belies the bombast. Give or take a Floor Jansen, Lzzy Hale owns the best voice in modern rock – but even she’s never sounded quite this enflamed.