Kris Barras Band – Death Valley Paradise
The Kris Barras Band have upped both the ante and the amps for latest album Death Valley Paradise.
Musically, the album takes its lead from a boisterous and heavy, contemporary rock style, which fits the profile of just where Kris Barras was for this album – the results are an almost angst driven outpouring of Barras’ experiences with the pandemic, lockdowns and a bout of depression, which manifest themselves in many of the lyrics.
This album time around Kris Barras also co-wrote much of the album with outside writers – close to half the album was written with Blair Daly (Halestorm, Black Stone Cherry), with further co-write contributions coming from Jonny Andrews (Three Days Grace, Fozzy), Bob Marlette (Alice Cooper, Airbourne, Rob Zombie) and Zac Maloy (Shinedown, Tyler Bryant).
The thick, sinewy riff and heavy bass & drums (courtesy of new rhythm section, drummer Billy Hammett and bassist Kelpie Mackenzie) that open 'Dead Horses' sets the tone of the album from the off; the fierce "goin' down the same old road" lyricism matching the fierceness of Kris Barras' short but sharply impacting guitar solo.
The riff-heavy 'Long Gone,' which is part Kris Barras blues-rock part Black Stone Cherry (not a bad hybrid), is another where the band, which includes Barras’ long-tome music partner Josiah J Manning (rhythm guitar/ vocals) put the lead down, in some seriously swaggering fashion.
The defiant 'My Parade,' with its fuzzed up sonic, what sounds like a synth-treated riff and chant styled vocal, is the album and Kris Barras’ statement of serious, 'had enough' intent ("this is my parade, fall into line or get out of my way… don’t give a fuck what people say").
'These Voices,' which incorporates and interchanges a rock-metal riff with atmospheric, modern-rock sequences and a harder-edged Bon Jovi chorus hook shouldn’t really work; but it does.
Similarly modern in approach is the pacey rock-metal of 'Who Needs Enemies,' which features self-explanatory "stabbed in the back" lyricism, a melodically charged solo from Barras and some seriously on-point drumming from Billy Hammett.
Musically, the album takes its lead from a boisterous and heavy, contemporary rock style, which fits the profile of just where Kris Barras was for this album – the results are an almost angst driven outpouring of Barras’ experiences with the pandemic, lockdowns and a bout of depression, which manifest themselves in many of the lyrics.
This album time around Kris Barras also co-wrote much of the album with outside writers – close to half the album was written with Blair Daly (Halestorm, Black Stone Cherry), with further co-write contributions coming from Jonny Andrews (Three Days Grace, Fozzy), Bob Marlette (Alice Cooper, Airbourne, Rob Zombie) and Zac Maloy (Shinedown, Tyler Bryant).
The thick, sinewy riff and heavy bass & drums (courtesy of new rhythm section, drummer Billy Hammett and bassist Kelpie Mackenzie) that open 'Dead Horses' sets the tone of the album from the off; the fierce "goin' down the same old road" lyricism matching the fierceness of Kris Barras' short but sharply impacting guitar solo.
The riff-heavy 'Long Gone,' which is part Kris Barras blues-rock part Black Stone Cherry (not a bad hybrid), is another where the band, which includes Barras’ long-tome music partner Josiah J Manning (rhythm guitar/ vocals) put the lead down, in some seriously swaggering fashion.
The defiant 'My Parade,' with its fuzzed up sonic, what sounds like a synth-treated riff and chant styled vocal, is the album and Kris Barras’ statement of serious, 'had enough' intent ("this is my parade, fall into line or get out of my way… don’t give a fuck what people say").
'These Voices,' which incorporates and interchanges a rock-metal riff with atmospheric, modern-rock sequences and a harder-edged Bon Jovi chorus hook shouldn’t really work; but it does.
Similarly modern in approach is the pacey rock-metal of 'Who Needs Enemies,' which features self-explanatory "stabbed in the back" lyricism, a melodically charged solo from Barras and some seriously on-point drumming from Billy Hammett.
The modern/ contemporary slant continues with the edgy 'Devil You Know;' it might have a distorted and darker guitar solo but it’s rhythmic power makes it damn near danceable (dance-metal, anybody?)
'Wake Me When It’s Over' sails dangerously close to atmospheric euro-rock ballad territory but is saved through Kris Barras’ sincere and internalising "hard to keep believing" lyricism and genuinely emotive solo.
'Hostage' by contrast, is a short and sharp three minute slice of grunge-pop, while the similar 180 second length of the fuzzed 'n' grunged 'Cigarettes and Gasoline' carries serious mid-tempo weight.
(It’s worth noting here that the average song-length across the album is three-and-a-half minutes, a concise approach that work exceptionally well).
The downtempo 'Bury Me' allows for lighter relief (musically, if not lyrically – "so fetch the shovels, set me free... and bury me") within, again, highly contemporary framework and another great solo from Kris Barras.
The album closes with 'Chaos,' a lyrical expose of Kris Barras’ mental health issues ably supported by heavyweight riffing, solid rhythm work and a melodic middle 8.
'Chaos' is a song that's as huge as its sound, which leads to kudos for the great production job from Dan Weller (Enter Shikari, Elles Bailey, Monster Truck, among others) across the entire album.
The statement of contemporary rock intent that is Death Valley Paradise has made for the best Kris Barras album to date.
But, given the blues rock credentials so impressively established on self-titled debut and Lucky 13, followed by the fuller sounding The Divine and the Dirty and the more airplay orientated rock-blues of 2019’s Light it Up (which featured more chorus hooks than you could keep up with), it might be better to say Death Valley Paradise is simply the latest engrossing – and seriously attention grabbing – chapter in Kris Barras’ musical story.
From the broken knuckles of MMA cage fighting to a nifty fingered blues-rock guitarist with husky vocality and strong song writing credentials.
Not a bad career move; not a bad career move at all.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Death Valley Paradise is out now on Mascot Records.
Kris Barras Band is currently on tour in the UK through March – dates and ticket info here:
https://www.krisbarrasband.com/tour
'Wake Me When It’s Over' sails dangerously close to atmospheric euro-rock ballad territory but is saved through Kris Barras’ sincere and internalising "hard to keep believing" lyricism and genuinely emotive solo.
'Hostage' by contrast, is a short and sharp three minute slice of grunge-pop, while the similar 180 second length of the fuzzed 'n' grunged 'Cigarettes and Gasoline' carries serious mid-tempo weight.
(It’s worth noting here that the average song-length across the album is three-and-a-half minutes, a concise approach that work exceptionally well).
The downtempo 'Bury Me' allows for lighter relief (musically, if not lyrically – "so fetch the shovels, set me free... and bury me") within, again, highly contemporary framework and another great solo from Kris Barras.
The album closes with 'Chaos,' a lyrical expose of Kris Barras’ mental health issues ably supported by heavyweight riffing, solid rhythm work and a melodic middle 8.
'Chaos' is a song that's as huge as its sound, which leads to kudos for the great production job from Dan Weller (Enter Shikari, Elles Bailey, Monster Truck, among others) across the entire album.
The statement of contemporary rock intent that is Death Valley Paradise has made for the best Kris Barras album to date.
But, given the blues rock credentials so impressively established on self-titled debut and Lucky 13, followed by the fuller sounding The Divine and the Dirty and the more airplay orientated rock-blues of 2019’s Light it Up (which featured more chorus hooks than you could keep up with), it might be better to say Death Valley Paradise is simply the latest engrossing – and seriously attention grabbing – chapter in Kris Barras’ musical story.
From the broken knuckles of MMA cage fighting to a nifty fingered blues-rock guitarist with husky vocality and strong song writing credentials.
Not a bad career move; not a bad career move at all.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Death Valley Paradise is out now on Mascot Records.
Kris Barras Band is currently on tour in the UK through March – dates and ticket info here:
https://www.krisbarrasband.com/tour