Review by Rick Eaglestone for MPM
What started as a childhood dream from siblings Lzzy and Arejay Hale has morphed into something much more – Grammy winners amongst being one also being one the most important rock bands in the world right now as Halestorm return with their sixth album Everest.
With Halestorm, Pennsylvania’s finest hard rock export, you never quite know which way the wind is going to blow until Lzzy Hale opens her mouth and reminds you why she has been the gold standard for female metal vocalists since the mid-2000s.
Coming off the back of 2022’s ‘Back From The Dead’ – an album that saw the band stripping back their catalogue to its bare bones and proving they could deliver the goods with nothing but guitars and raw emotion – ‘Everest is something altogether different. This is not a band looking backwards anymore; this is Halestorm planting their flag at the summit and daring anyone to knock them off.
What really is Everest overall crowning glory is thathave and continue to be genuine about their journey, not because they have manufactured profundity. Halestorm’s strength has always been their ability to make the personal feel universal, to take Lzzys individual struggles and transform them into anthems that resonate with anyone who is ever felt like an outsider fighting to be heard.
It is worth considering where Halestorm sit in the current metal landscape. Hard rock – their bread and butter – is not exactly dominating the cultural conversation right now. The younger generation is more likely to be listening to Sleep Token or Spiritbox than classic four-piece rock bands. Streaming algorithms favour the extreme and the experimental over the tried-and-true.
But maybe that’s exactly why ‘Everest’ matters. In a scene increasingly obsessed with subgenre specificity and technical wizardry, there is something to be said for a band that just wants to write great songs and play them with conviction. Halestorm have never been the heaviest band in metal, but they’ve consistently been one of the most honest. In an era of manufactured authenticity, which counts for something.
The Dave Cobb connection suggests they understand this. Rather than chasing trends or trying to out-tech the tech-metal bands, they seem to be doubling down on what they do best: crafting memorable songs with emotional weight. It is a risky strategy in 2025, but it might be exactly what the scene needs.
Sometimes the most ambitious thing a band can do is trust in their own voice, and with powerful outpourings of raw musicality on title track ‘Everest’ the band have crafted the evolution into the next chapter of their career and is a dark, deeply personal effort that pushed each musician to their artistic limits, ultimately resulting in an evocative, genuine collection of rock songs.
“Our album Everest is a story of our journey as a band, full of beautiful endings and new beginnings,” says Halestorm frontwoman Lzzy Hale. “We weave a tangled web of melancholy, frustration, anger, and the vast purgatory of love and love lost. It is a rollercoaster of epic musical detours, great songwriting and completely unhinged twists and turns. Everest is an auditory representation of the 4 pillars of Halestorm. Let us reintroduce ourselves and invite you into our world…if you dare.”
Highlight Tracks: Everest, Darkness Always Win & Gather The Lambs
Following amazing sets with Iron Maiden and at Black Sabbath’s Back To
The Beginning, the group return to the UK for a headline arena tour this
November.
Everest track listing:
1. Fallen Star
2. Everest
3. Shiver
4. Like A Women Can
5. Rain Your Blood On Me
6. Darkness Always Wins
7. Gather The Lands
8. Watch Out!
9. Broken Doll
10. K-I-L-L-I-N-G
11. I Gave You Everything
12. How You Will You Remember Me
Line-up:
Lzzy Hale – vocals/guitar
Arejay Hale – drums
Joe Hottinger – guitar
Josh Smith – bass
https://www.halestormrocks.com
https://www.facebook.com/halestormrocks
https://www.instagram.com/halestormrocks
10/10
