It is widely known right now, if you are a HALESTORM fan, that in between the official album releases HALESTORM do something a little different. Right after the band’s third album release comes the third “Reanimate“, an EP solely by cover songs. The EP contains songs from different decades proving the band’s love for good old rock and metal songs.
It is like a tradition now for HALESTORM to do these “Reanimate” projects and the fans seem to really love them. From all the songs HALESTORM recorded, the final product contains six of them from the 60s,70s,80s,90s and as the bassist Josh Smith told “a contemporary pop song”.
As many people out there stated, “If HALESTORM was a purely cover band, it would still be a fascinating band” and they are definitely right. Lzzy Hale‘s robust and on-point vocals are really giving another flare in the songs, making them recognizable but with a splash of their own HALESTORM style.
First track in the EP is the “Still Of The Night” from WHITESNAKE. The band managed to transfuse a more hard rock style to the song making it really accessible for people who are not really fond of the classic rock sound of the 80s. Apart from the hard rock style, the riffs had a flare of ambience giving the song some more depth and the guitar had more power in its sound, if that’s possible. Next in line is the “Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover” from SOPHIE B.HAWKINS. Lzzy proved able to nail this song with her voice. Combine this with all the guitars and drums, this could be a today’s hit song playing in every radio station.
Coming up next, the all time classic “I Hate Myself For Loving You”. Maybe the cover with the most resemblance to the original but still, not that good. It is an impressive song for the modern standards of music but something is missing. Maybe it is Joan‘s certain style and power accompanying most of her classic songs.
“Every single cover was impressive, following the original piece and in the same time emitting the HALESTORM vibe.”
Time for the contemporary pop song. 21 PILOTS’ “Heathens” has drawn much attention since its release and HALESTORM could not overlook it. It is exciting to see how some pop songs would be when a rock band decide to mess with them. Screams are introduced, ambient guitars replacing most of the keyboards and some heavy guitars during the choruses, what else do someone need for a kickass song.
HALESTORM seem to love Chris Cornell since they covered “Hunger Strike” from TEMPLE OF THE DOG’S in their first “Reanimate” and now “Fell On Black Days” from SOUNDGARDEN. The cover has a groovier style with the drummer, Arejay Hale unveiling his talent here.
Last but not least, METALLICA. “Ride The Lightning” is the last song of the EP and it is not bad. It is definitely not METALLICA, but if someone wonders how METALLICA would sound as a rock band, that’s the cover you must listen to. LZZY’s try to imitate the Hetfield singing style is really notable and the guitars follow the original piece. The only thing missing from the song was the aggressiveness as it had a groovier style, a more mainstream one.
I seriously had fun with this EP. It is amazing listening to classic songs transformed into hard rock songs with female vocals. Every single cover was impressive, following the original piece and in the same time emitting the HALESTORM vibe. Many people would consider these cover songs as a defilation of the originals, but the songs were not bad at all. Let’s hope HALESTORM would do more of these covers in the future reviving all those classics.