Everest
Halestorm
Lzzy Hale has never had a problem making herself heard. The pleasure of Everest is how many different ways she finds to do it. There are huge rock choruses, darker passages, bluesy moments and a few songs that sound ready to kick the door in. Halestorm give that voice a wider setting, and the results are very good.
The title track is an early highlight. It begins with an uneasy atmosphere before the riff and chorus make the song much larger. The changes feel deliberate rather than decorative. The band are willing to let the tension build, which makes the full sound more effective when it arrives.
Like a Woman Can takes another route. The piano and blues influence give Hale room to shape the words, and the chorus grows from the performance rather than arriving as a sudden increase in volume. It's one of the strongest vocal moments on the album. The control is as impressive as the power.
There is plenty of power available elsewhere. Rain Your Blood on Me is a heavy, forceful song with a clear sense of defiance. WATCH OUT! and K-I-L-L-I-N-G are more frantic, with the rhythm section giving the music an extra shove. Those songs are useful reminders that the band's growth hasn't removed their ability to be noisy and direct.
The emotional range matters just as much. Darkness Always Wins builds patiently around a difficult thought, and the song doesn't rush to make that thought easier. Gather the Lambs takes the record into a more shadowy atmosphere again. Producer Dave Cobb gives these different approaches enough room to remain distinct.
The shifts can make the album feel less immediate than an unbroken set of hard-rock anthems. They also give it far more to return to. The closing How Will You Remember Me? brings the attention back to the person behind the voice, ending on a quieter question rather than another display of strength.
Everest is a confident step forward. Halestorm sound willing to follow a song somewhere new, and capable of making that journey worth hearing.
