HALESTORM – Into The Wild Life [Deluxe Edition] (2015)

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The three-year wait for fans to hear new HALESTORM music finally will end next week with the release of “Into The Wild Life”, their third full-length album.
“Into The Wild Life” is a natural progression from the Philadelphia hard rock band’s breakthrough last album, which featured the hits that earned Halestorm a 2013 Grammy for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance.

However, the new record is a different beast altogether, one that forsakes everything that has worked for Halestorm thus far (slick production, traditional hard rocking songwriting arrangements, a radio-ready mix of rockers and ballads) and takes a leap into the unknown.
Musically, “Into The Wild Life” covers plenty of ground. Halestorm explores classic rock, metal, acoustic rock, chain-gang blues, anything that inspires it, with little concession to what anyone expects.
But don’t worry, sonically, Halestorm still sounds like Halestorm.

Speaking about the varied songwriting, the risk of following their instincts has paid off. From the angular, aggressive attack of the metallic “Mayhem” to the plangent piano and aching vocals of the ballad “Dear Daughter” — from the brash, confrontational anthem “Sick Individual” to the offbeat choir-flavored blues rock of “Amen,” Halestorm has taken conventional radio rock and turned it on its head.

One of my favorite tracks is the edgy “Apocalyptic”, driven by a fat bassline, Arejay Hale’s pulsating drums and Joe Hottinger’s gritty guitars which hit you hard and heavy from the first note, but it is frontwoman extraordinaire, Lzzy Hale, that brings out the ‘balls’ with her take-no-prisoners delivery.
Both musically and lyrically, Lzzy proves time and again that she can not only hang with male hard rock vocalists, but also outshine them in many cases.
This Deluxe Edition features 2 bonuses; the cool retro-rocker “Jump the Gun” with broken riffs and lots of gang vocals, and the modern “Unapologetic”, a bit insipid midtempo.

Challenging and eclectic, but too catchy to ignore, “Into The Wild Life” is a spirited and slightly reckless release from a seasoned hard rock band that has learned the rules only to willfully break them.
“Into The Wild Life” is a very solid effort that will consolidate Halestorm as one of the best hard rock bands to emerge this decade in the US and there is an awful lot more to come from Lzzy and Co in the future.
Very Recommended.

01 – Scream
02 – I Am the Fire
03 – Sick Individual
04 – Amen
05 – Dear Daughter
06 – New Modern Love
07 – Mayhem
08 – Bad Girls World
09 – Gonna Get Mine
10 – The Reckoning
11 – Apocalyptic
12 – What Sober Couldn’t Say
13 – I Like It Heavy
14 – Jump the Gun (bonus track)
15 – Unapologetic (bonus track)

Lzzy Hale – vocals
Joe Hottinger – guitars
Josh Smith – bass
Arejay Hale – drums

BUY IT !
www.amazon.co.uk/Into-Wild-Life-Deluxe-Halestorm/dp/B00S5OZKDA
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