Halestorm – 'Back From The Dead' Album Review

Tracklist:

1. Back From The Dead

2. Wicked Ways

3. Strange Girl

4. Brightside

5. The Steeple

6. Terrible Things

7. My Redemption

8. Bombshell

9. I Come First

10. Psycho Crazy

11. Raise your Horns

Halestorm are one of those bands that I only discovered a few years ago, and I eagerly delved through their back catalogue at the time. What I found was a band who manage to perfectly meld Metal riffs with memorable songs – although I felt it was only on their previous album “Vicious” that they had accurately recreated what I imagine is their live sound on record – it sounded rawer and louder than all of their other albums, and it really contained some special magic.

When they released “The Steeple” as the first single from this album, I was ecstatic to hear that this sound had continued and, in some ways, was even heavier than before – making me super excited for this album. When it eventually came out, I was not disappointed!

The first five tracks of this album are perfect. There’s not a foot put wrong. “Back From The Dead” is fierce and pummels you into submission, “Wicked Ways” is a pulse pounding rocker, “Strange Girl” is the sort of song you can sing along to (imagine a crowd singing along with it – it’d be spine-tingling), “Brightside” is the closest in feel to the poppier edge of Halestorm (though it’s not a Pop song at all), and then 'The Steeple' is still the rallying call to arms that this album needs at this point.

“Terrible Things” is an acoustic ballad, which gives you a welcome moment to breath, but is the least memorable song on the album for me personally. Not that it’s bad – it’s not at all, but it’s the least likely to be put on a playlist for me. “My Redemption” takes us back to the harder edge of Halestorm, and from there we batter through three more absolute rockers (“Bombshell”, “I Come First”, and “Psycho Crazy”), before we get to the final track.

That last track, “Raise Your Horns”, is the second ballad on the album, but one that works much better for me than “Terrible Things” did. It’s inherently singable, and really feels like a call to arms, asking fans and listeners to show their loyalty to the band, to metal, and to freedom.

Honestly? This album may well end up being my album of the year. It’s a perfect mix of everything I want in an album, and sounds so beautiful that I could listen to it over and over again (in fact, I have!). If you like female fronted Metal that you can both headbang to and sing along with, I can’t recommend “Back From The Dead” enough.