Review by Ritchie Birnie for MPM
The tattooed vest wearing MMA monster has ripped up the play book on this album and serves up the heaviest slice of Rock and Metal to date.
Reinvention can be a slow drip feed for some bands but as is Kris’s way he has went all in on Halo Effect and I am seriously impressed. The difference from Death Valley Paradise is incredible, this album sounds huge, the production is sublime and the riffs are incessant.
The album opens with “Hourglass” and a Nu Metal plod, distorted vocals and a massive chorus. This is new, fresh and lays down the gauntlet for the whole album…what an opener.
Second track “Unbreakable” was the first single back in November last year and Kris said this was the statement to show how different this album was going to be. It still holds on to that old style, especially on the solo but this is your gateway drug to the new heavier, more brutal Kris and it kicks ass.
“With You” keeps the tempo at 11 and the beats as fresh as hell. It throws in some experimentation but the catchiness is so palpable your whole body will itch. The break down is almost prog and it is another banger.
“Savages” opens with spoken word and with a title like this I was suspecting some more full throttle madness but it almost soothes as it opens. This is the shaded pool in the middle of the desert. The calm in the broiling seas of metal that this album is. We have touches of Linkin Park technical magic, a full on choir and this is a beautiful number.
Normal chaotic majesty resumes on “Fall to Fly” and the fretboard of both bass and guitar is wonderful. I am loving the new vibe and Kris’s vocals come at you like a spitting snake and the venom is just as contagious and just as lethal.
An ethereal opening starts on “Waste Away From Me” and as it kicks in I swear I was expecting some guttural vocals it bursts in so fiercely. There is a whole new grit to Kris Barras in 2024 but the chorus still kicks like a bitch and gives you something to get your teeth into. This track is another with fretboard gymnastics and you can feel Kris smiling through his playing, he has a new wave and he is riding it till he is flipped out.
The album has been non stop so far so “Reflections” is not going to be different but there is a slight softness to the brutal punchline. The lyrical content conveys both the good and bad, the dark and the light and this is another favourite for me.
“Secrets” is a strange one for me. It didn’t fit the vibe for me. It is not a bad song but it kicks in like an 80s Simple Minds number before slotting back to the powerful vibe being laid down throughout. It was just a bit to off kilter for me.
“Landslide” opens with those technical pops and just a Kris on vocal perfection duty. It slows everything down but this song is more believable than the previous track. It has a power in the gentleness, a huge depth in the refrain and one of the best solos on the album.
“Fear of Letting Go” opens with a Kris we are more familiar with, the soaring vocals, the guitar on point and a song so full of hooks it could be in a Hell Raiser movie. It has the old and the new, it will keep both camps happy without any feeling of compromise…everyone will love it.
The album closes with “Apocalypse” and the title will confirm that this song is following the script for this new Kris Barras. It is everything we loved previously but the bigger sound puts fresh life into the mans melodic guitar driven rock.
Halo Effect is a beast of an album, it was something I was truly not prepared for. I have been listening and going to see Kris and his band for many a year now, I loved the Southern tinged blues vibes of “Hail Mary” but this album is so far removed from that but this is the reinvention. It builds on his history but like life we all get a bit more hard edged, less forgiving, angrier and definitely grumpier. He has taken life’s lessons and tossed them into a melting pot of newer, fresher influences and out pops his most professional and heaviest album to date. It just so happens to be his best album too.
KRIS BARRAS BAND comprises frontman Kris Barras, Josiah J. Manning on guitar, Billy Hammett on drums, and latest member Frazer Kerslake on bass.
Pre-order now at https://www.earache.com/krisbarrasband
Follow Kris Barras Band online:
Official site: https://www.krisbarrasband.com
YouTube: @KrisBarrasBand
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/241MO…
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/krisbarrasband
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Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/KrisBarrasBand
