Album Review : Kris Barras Band – Death Valley Paradise

Review by Pete Coates – facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography

KRIS BARRAS BAND – DEATH VALLEY PARADISE
Mascot Records
Release Date 4^th March 2022

Steamrolling out of the end of 2021, the Kris Barras Band have announced their brand-new album, Death Valley Paradise, along with their most anthemic, call-to-arms song to date, My Parade. The new album produced this time by Dean Weller (Enter Shikari, Bury Tomorrow, SiKth) will be released on 4th March 2022 via Mascot Records/Mascot Label Group (Black Stone Cherry, Fozzy, Crobot).

The band features a new rhythm section of Billy Hammett (Drums) and Kelpie Mackenzie (Bass) along with Kris (Lead Vocals/Guitar) and long-term partner Josiah J. Manning (Rhythm Guitars/ Vocals). “The band on this album are a big part of how it sounds. When we get in a room and jam, everything just comes out heavier and more angsty,” Kris says of the new line-up.

Barras decided to remove all shackles for this record, and began collaborating with some heavyweight songwriters, such as: Jonny Andrews (Three Days Grace, Fozzy), Bob Marlette (Alice Cooper, Airbourne, Rob Zombie), Blair Daly (Halestorm, Black Stone Cherry) and Zac Maloy (Shinedown, Tyler Bryant). The band will also be taking on their biggest UK headline tour to date in March 2022 for 14-nights, starting on 8 March in Exeter and finishing in the Electric Ballroom in London on 26th March.

The opening track Dead Horses was the first single release and moves KBB slightly from the bluesier edge of the rock spectrum to a modern classic rock sound, but retaining that blues feel in the solo. Heavy bass and drums open up the track before the first of many solid riffs bursts from Kris’ guitar. There is much to like about this one, and the drum sound in the mix is superb. Sharp, crisp verses punctuated by the drumming, and a massive hook in the chorus, before the slightly stripped-back middle-eight that leads into the ripper of a solo.

Long Gone is another solid riff-heavy monster, delivering a crushing verse, lots of melody in the chorus, that sees Kris show off a voice that has developed significantly over the past few records – there is a bit of Black Stone Cherry in the chorus, and a lot of Kris Barras in the heavy blues solo! Second single and the band’s protest song My Parade explodes from the grooves, with a huge crowd-chorus – “It says this is my parade, but it’s collective, it’s our parade,” Barras says. “This is my life, and this is how I’m gonna live it and if you don’t like it. Fuck off.” This is a wonderfully crafted high-energy modern rock song that has been brought to life by the massive production values.

A frenetic and blistering riff opens up These Voices, before a drop in intensity for the verse, that lifts right back into the chorus, with that epic riff featuring as the link back from chorus to verse, and re-appears throughout the track as a constant reminder, with a variation mid-song that is immense and sees some hectic time and key-changes before the reprise of the chorus kicks in, with one final chunk of that riff to provide the full-stop!

There is a bit of a melodic nu-metal feel to the non-stop Who Needs Enemies, with the crisp double-time drumming and thrashing guitars through verse and chorus, and then the slower mid-section before Kris delivers a really superb solo. Billy Hammett is outstanding through the track, with some awesome fills and technical drumming. He repeats this in Devil You Know, which is another melodic but heavy beast of a track, featuring a hook-filled chorus before a ponderous middle-eight riff that continues under the slightly menacing feel to the solo. Kris has developed as a guitarist as well as vocalist, and is bringing these extra qualities to a new set of heavier and darker tracks, which he believes are the nearest thing to the real KB sound yet.

There is a haunting quality to Wake Me When It’s Over which is the nearest thing to a power ballad on the record, with a mellow vocal delivery to the verse, before the chorus blitzes with another massive soundscape. The solo is crisp and clear, and provides a soaring melodic counterpoint to the underlying riff before the final chorus raises the hackles on your neck with the utter intensity of the delivery. Hostage has a real pop-rock aspect the sound – a heavier version of Fall Out Boy or Panic! At The Disco, with some exquisite variety in the guitar tones and riffs, and another super-catchy chorus.

A grungy, distorted and brutal riff opens up Cigarettes and Gasoline before the bass-driven verse takes over and leads onto another top-notch chorus. The songwriting has certainly taken on a new dimension on this record, and the results are sensational. There are some ripping lead breaks dispersed through the song, sitting over that riff as it keeps re-appearing through the track. This one is so heavy it will make venue floors shake all over the UK.

The album takes a quick breath with Bury Me, a slightly lower-intensity track, with a cool off-beat tempo in the verse that sees bass, drums and guitars hooked up beautifully, and then a pre-chorus that drives us into the superb melodies of the chorus. There is a crescendo of vocals that precedes the soaring solo before the powerful final segment and chorus, featuring backing harmonies and contrasting layers of vocals.

The album closes with the thundering beast that is Chaos, a track about the mental health issues Kris has faced , and this is another fine example of what KBB has created with this new album. Solid riffs, some layered guitars and maybe keyboards from Josiah, and more really tight beats and rhythms from Kelpie and Billy which, along with the production, I think define this record more than any of Kris’ prior works.

Dead Horses Video : https://youtu.be/DxEztKOZ1AM

Stream / Pre-Order: http://smarturl.it/KBB

Available formats:
Transparent Red LP
Yellow/Black Splatter LP
CD
Digital

TRACK LISTING
1. Dead Horses
2. Long Gone
3. My Parade
4. These Voices
5. Who Needs Enemies
6. Devil You Know
7. Wake Me When It’s Over
8. Hostage
9. Cigarettes and Gasoline
10. Bury Me
11. Chaos