HALESTORM – Vicious (2018)
A shock-wave of incandescent, bare bones, red-blooded Rock-n-Roll grit, HALESTORM – the incomparable vocals of Lzzy Hale, the percussive talents of Lzzy’s brother, Drummer Arejay Hale, alongside cutthroat Guitarist Joe Hottinger, and the concrete foundation of Bassist Josh Smith – return on the hot new album “Vicious“, set to drop on Friday, July 27, 2018, thanks to the legendary Atlantic Records.
Recorded over the course of 2017, Halestorm conceived “Vicious” delving back into the band’s original breed, a power-packed collection of Hard Rock luxury, returning to the roots of their 2009 debut, Halestorm.
So if you didn’t liked their recent music modern-rock approach, you have no excuse here; “Vicious” is classic female fronted hard rock – with an updated sound, yes – but pure and kick ass.
Probably the closest thing we have to a 21st-century Joan Jett figure, Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale is a sexy-tough frontwoman fully in charge of her band, image and career. B
because the hard rock landscape is depressingly low on such female icons right now, the perma-touring Pennsylvania four-piece arguably enjoy more prominence than their fairly conventional, increasingly chart-friendly music merits.
Kick-started by a brazen scream from Lzzy on “Black Vultures,” the album attacks in venomous fashion bringing to life these scavenger birds of prey and the band’s will to fight (“I don’t give in! I don’t give up!”). Just getting started, the confident thud of “Skulls” drives into the album’s first single, “Uncomfortable.” Here, Lzzy proclaims she is free to reign as she pleases and does not mind provoking a little misery along the way.
A feeling we just cannot do without, “Buzz” precedes perhaps Halestorm’s most suggestive cut ever, the sexually-charged yet classy innuendo of “Do Not Disturb.”
Wishing for a stimulant, “Conflicted” muses before the tenacious “Killing Ourselves To Live” harbors over the ironic idea of doing bad things to live forever, followed by the numbing ballad “Heart of Novocaine”, chronicling a traumatic break-up, trashes the idea of romance altogether. ‘Thank you for the pain, thank you for the hate, thank you for the way you left me scarred,’ Hale roars over crashing waves of acoustic guitar.
Falling just the right side of bombastic melodrama, this arena-sized anthem could well become Halestorm’s ‘November Rain’.
Next on the playlist, an antidote, the clatter of “Painkiller” soars into a delusional state. Then, the fictional purity on “White Dress” exposes the carnal truth of skeletons hidden in the closet but with a resolve to turn it all around.
A beastly title track, “Vicious” systematically forges together all the unrestrained, pent-up aggression Halestorm was surely going for when the band wrote this album.
Ceremoniously closing out Halestorm’s latest offering, “The Silence” is a tender, well-written ballad, finding Lzzy’s gallant pipes reminiscing the past and promising to keep someone’s memory protected in her heart.
Overall, “Vicious” is Halestorm most eclectic album yet and, their most end-to-end enjoyable too. Clearly enamoured of late-70s and 1980s rock tropes, they will never be rule-bending revolutionaries, but they know how to balance compact pop-metal dynamics with gritty, sexy, alluring rebel attitude.
Strongly Recommended
01. Black Vultures
02. Skulls
03. Uncomfortable
04. Buzz
05. Do Not Disturb
06. Conflicted
07. Killing Ourselves To Live
08. Heart of Novocaine
09. Painkiller
10. White Dress
11. Vicious
12. The Silence
Lzzy Hale – Vocals, Guitar
Arejay Hale – Drums
Josh Smith – Bass
Joe Hottinger – Guitar
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www.amazon.de/Vicious-Halestorm/dp/B07D57DLX4
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