SINGLE REVIEW: HALESTORM - UNCOMFORTABLE
‘Halestorm’ are back with their a brand new song ‘Uncomfortable’ from their upcoming fourth album ‘Vicious’ which is scheduled for release later in the summer. ‘Uncomfortable’ is our first taste of new music since the release of 2015’s ‘Into The Wild’ which saw ‘Halestorm take a more bluesy direction.
Despite often being labelled as just another US radio rock band, one thing that has always set ‘Halestorm’ apart from the likes of ‘Five Finger Death Punch’ is that you never know what you are going to get with a new record. All three current ‘Halestorm’ albums have their own distinctive style from the straight up rock of the self-titled debut to the metal worship of their sensational follow up ‘The Strange Case Of…’ all the way to the blues oriented ‘Into The Wild’. The ‘Reanimate’ series of covers EP that the band sporadically release is testament to the bands diverse range of influences and ‘Vicious’ looks as though it will once again be taking a changing our preconceptions of what makes ‘Halestorm’.
Straight from the opening, ‘Uncomfortable’ seems to have more in common with ‘The Strange Case Of…’ than ‘Into The Wild’ as the song begins with a spectacularly fast and heavy riff, but this is not a case of the band taking two steps back. Lzzy Hale’s vocals remain one of the main highlights as she showcases a phenomenal range and versatility. There is a much higher punk element than we have previously seen with ‘Halestorm’ as the bass is brought higher in the mix and Lzzy Hale sings the verses at breakneck speed. Arjay Hale’s drumming is as chaotic as we have come to expect and the entire track has a general ‘Motorhead’ feel. Lyrically, this is Lzzy Hale in a nutshell. Referencing her sexually explicit and antagonistic lyrics in songs like ‘Apocalyptic’ and ‘Jump The Gun’ and raising a middle finger to anyone who too close-minded enough to have an issue with a woman singing about her sexuality proclaiming “I love to make you uncomfortable” and “I did it because fuck the man”.
We still have a few months before the release of ‘Vicious’ so we can expect plenty more single releases in the coming weeks, but as an opening statement it seems pretty clear that ‘Halestorm’ aren’t slowing down anytime soon.
