Halestorm unleash Everest as a dark, defiant ascent — fueled by pain, power, and the full force of Lzzy Hale’s voice as the band turns inward and climbs through the wreckage.
After more than two decades of chart-topping records, relentless touring, and kicking down doors for women in hard rock, Halestorm are still hungry. And on Everest, they sound downright feral.
Everest is the Pennsylvania-bred, Nashville-based band’s sixth studio album and easily their most personal and punishing work to date. Produced by Dave Cobb, the album strips away any remaining gloss, leaving behind a raw, riff-heavy record that sounds like a storm rolling in on a black horizon.
Recorded live-to-tape at Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A, the album trades polish for pulse. You can hear it in every howl from Lzzy Hale, whose vocals swing from a whisper to a throat-tearing scream across songs like “The Witch Is Back” and “Smoke.” You can feel it in Joe Hottinger’s guitar work — searing, soulful, and unpredictable — and in the thunderous rhythm section of bassist Josh Smith and drummer Arejay Hale, who play like they’re chasing down something just out of reach.
“Everest is symbolic of our journey as a band,” Lzzy said in a recent interview. “There have been so many times we could’ve stopped. But instead of quitting, we kept climbing.”
Much of that emotional weight comes from what the band endured in the lead-up to the record. Lzzy has been open about her struggles with mental health and identity, recently coming out as bisexual and later being named the first female ambassador for Gibson Guitars. “In a way, expressing my vulnerability and some of my darkness might actually be more inspirational,” she explains. Everest is filled with that kind of catharsis — rage giving way to clarity, grief morphing into defiance.
Lead single “Mind Control” punches through with a grinding, industrial stomp, while “Back From the Dead” (first released on the band’s 2022 EP of the same name) returns here in a darker, more bruised form. The towering closer “Heaven Knows My Name” leans into gospel overtones without losing the grit, offering a rare, near-spiritual release.
Over the years, Halestorm have built a reputation as one of rock’s most consistent and hardest-hitting live acts, and Everest doesn’t shy away from that energy. But what elevates the record is its intimacy. For the first time, it feels like Halestorm aren’t just playing for the crowd, they’re talking to themselves.