HALESTORM, the Pennsylvania-bred and Nashville-based quartet, played five songs from its upcoming “Everest” album during the band’s May 15 performance at the Welcome To Rockville festival at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Notably, nearly half of HALESTORM‘s 10-song set consisted as-yet-unreleased tracks from the group’s sixth studio LP: “Fallen Star”, “WATCH OUT!”, “Rain Your Blood On Me” and “Everest”, along with “Darkness Always Wins”, which was made available as a single in late April.
Regarding the decision to play so many new songs that are unfamiliar to HALESTORM fans, HALESTORM, frontwoman Lzzy Hale told American Musical Supply (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “We don’t like calling it in and we don’t like depending on our past hits. Our past hits are our past hits and they have moments, and these wonderful people that are in the audience will have that nostalgic [feeling], ‘Oh, this is one of my favorite songs.’ But for us, it’s a feeling. We are so proud of this album and there are certain songs that have to be played today, like have to be. Before the album is out, our freaks need to know these songs. They need to start learning the lyrics. And it’s because these are our anthems. New shit has come to light, man.”
As for what fans can expect from “Everest”, Lzzy said: “I dare say this is our new beginning. We closed a chapter at the end of our thirties. We are now in this beautiful midlife as a band. Arejay‘s [Hale, drums] 38. The oldest one is Grandpa Storm Joe [Hottinger, guitar]. He’s 43. Josh [Smith, bass] and I are both 41. Oh, no — Josh just turned 42 last week… But anyway, we’re going through this beautiful midlife as a band, so we want to reintroduce ourselves. This is HALESTORM right now, in the moment.”
“Everest” is due out August 8 on Atlantic Records.
A North American tour in support of the LP, “nEVEREST”, with Lindsey Stirling and APOCALYPTICA, will kick off on September 11 in Salem, Virginia and conclude on October 11 in Spokane, Washington.
“Everest” was produced by Grammy winner Dave Cobb (Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell),and it “dives deeply, both lyrically and sonically, into [HALESTORM‘s] mountainous climb over the last couple decades,” according to a press release.
“Our album ‘Everest’ is a story of our journey as a band, full of beautiful endings and new beginnings,” Lzzy previously said in a statement. “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 four pillars of HALESTORM. Let us reintroduce ourselves and invite you into our world…if you dare.”
Rolling Stone said of “Darkness Always Wins”, “What the song has going for is its catchy, brooding, and dramatic in all the ways we love HALESTORM songs to be,” and Revolver noted “The arrangement remains lean even as the amps begin to crank into the red, though ‘Darkness Always Wins’ still sports some exquisite minor-key melodicism, a metal-chunked bridge, loud-as-hell requiem bells and a classically rippin’ rock guitar solo.”
The newly announced “nEVEREST” tour follows an epic run first supporting IRON MAIDEN in Europe and dates with VOLBEAT in the U.S. with a one night-only-performance at BLACK SABBATH‘s final show in Birmingham, England.
HALESTORM‘s music has earned multiple platinum and gold certifications from the RIAA, and the band has earned a reputation as a powerful live music force, headlining sold-out shows and topping festival bills around the world, and sharing the stage with icons including HEAVEN & HELL, Alice Cooper, Joan Jett and JUDAS PRIEST. Additionally, Lzzy was named the first female brand ambassador for Gibson and served as host of AXS TV‘s “A Year In Music”.
