HALESTORM is back with a vengeance. The GRAMMY-winning squad (shoutout to sibling duo Lzzy and Arejay Hale, plus guitar wizard Joe Hottinger and bass beast Josh Smith) just announced their sixth studio album, “Everest”, dropping August 8 via Atlantic Records. Oh, and they’re not stopping there. Cue the “nEVEREST” U.S. tour this fall, featuring violin sorceress Lindsey Stirling (yes, the one who dances while shredding a Stradivarius) and cello-metal maniacs APOCALYPTICA. Tickets go live this Friday, May 2 at 10 a.m.—set those alarms.
Last week, they teased the album with “Darkness Always Wins”, a track that’s basically HALESTORM in a nutshell: brooding, loud, and dripping with drama. The whole album was produced by Dave Cobb—the guy who’s helmed records for Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton, and Jason Isbell (aka the holy trinity of “sad but cool”). According to the band, this album is their “mountainous climb” over two decades, which probably involved more leather and pyrotechnics than your average hiking trip.
Lzzy ain’t holding back: “Our album ‘Everest’ is a story of our journey as a band, full of beautiful endings and new beginnings. We weave a tangled web of melancholy, frustration, anger and the vast purgatory of love and love lost…” (Translation: buckle up, it’s a feels trip.) She also threw in phrases like “epic musical detours” and “unhinged twists,” which we’re pretty sure is code for “Arejay’s drum solos will destroy your eardrums.”
Critics are already swooning. Rolling Stone called the single “catchy, brooding, and dramatic in all the ways we love HALESTORM songs to be,” while Revolver geeked out over “metal-chunked bridges” and “loud-as-hell requiem bells.” The song’s already climbing rock charts—no surprise, since HALESTORM could probably make a kazoo solo sound metal.
Tracklist time! “Everest” serves up 12 anthems, including gems like “Rain Your Blood On Me” and “K-I-L-L-I-N-G” (because spelling is overrated).
Now, the tour deets. After opening for IRON MAIDEN (whose mascot Eddie could probably bench-press a tour bus) and VOLBEAT (Denmark’s answer to Elvis-meets-metal), HALESTORM’s hitting the road with Lindsey Stirling and APOCALYPTICA. Dates include:
Sep. 11 – Salem, VA – Salem Civic Center
Sep. 12 – Cherokee, NC – Harrah’s Cherokee
… all the way to Oct. 11 in Spokane. Bring earplugs.
