1 	Hello 	
2 	High Noon 	
3 	Into Your Heart 	
4 	Around The World 	
5 	Eye To Eye 	
6 	Is It Real 	
7 	Life's What You Need 	
8 	The Storm 	
9 	Raise Your Hands 	
10 	Stand Tall 	
11 	Watch Me Burn 	
12 	Wild And Hungry

Bass – Dominik Pfister
Drums – Roger Tanner
Lead Guitar – Thomas Blunier
Rhythm Guitar – Thomas Muster
Vocals – Mark Fox

Straight out of Switzerland we have Hard Rock piece SHAKRA. Formed way back in the late 90s they’re certainly not new to the scene. “High Noon” is their twelfth studio album and it hit Number 2 in the Swiss music charts, which for any Rock band is quite the achievement. They’re soon to share the stage with some of the most influential bands of the modern age, including Industrial Metal legends RAMMSTEIN and Thrash Metal veterans SLAYER and ANTHRAX at Sonisphere Metal Festival. So it’s safe to say this band are definitely going places.

Right off the bat this album is insanely catchy. The guitar work is solid, amplified by the meticulously sharp production. But then the vocals kick in. I really see what he’s trying to do; he’s trying to go for that “husky” tone but ends up sounding like a 40-a-day chain smoker. Not that it doesn’t work, sometimes it does. For example on the track “Wild & Hungry” his voice is slightly higher pitched which works in his favour. It’s when the vocals adopt a deeper tone that they have a tendency to sound unappealing.

Where the vocals lack, the guitar and drums pick up the slack. While there is nothing spectacular about the drumming (a simple 4/4 most of the time) it is solid, there’s not a point where I thought “this could be better”; sometimes the more simple the better and this album is a fine example of that. The guitar work is also relatively simple but effective, aside from a few guitar solos (which are phenomenal) there’s simple chord progression and not much else.

As I said before, the production on this album is exceptionally good. Each instrument stands out without sounding messy and crowded, and each instrument has their time to shine. It’s an easy mistake to make when producing an album, and a mistake that did not happen with this album.

All in all, this album is a solid effort. But I can’t help but expect more from a band that are doing so well for themselves. Nothing truly stands out, as I said before everything is simple but solid. It’s not exactly something one would expect for a band that have been together for almost twenty years. But, again, a solid effort from these Swiss Rockers. ---Laura Cosheril, metal-temple.com

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01 – Life Is Now
02 – The Mask
03 – Higher
04 – Wonderful Life
05 – Dear Enemy
06 – Save You from Yourself
07 – Don’t Keep Me Hanging
08 – Dream of Mankind
09 – Stevie
10 – Because of You
11 – Secret Hideaway
12 – Too Good to Be True

Line Up:
John Prakesh – Vocals
Thom Blunier- Guitars
Thomas Muster- Guitars
Dominik Pfister- Bass
Roger Tanner– Drums

The Switzerland based Melodic Hard Rock ace Shakra is back with their now 9th studio album titled “Power Play“. Blink for a minute and you may have missed the band’s entire discography. Sure doesn’t feel like they have been around that long, but in looking back at their history you are bound to find explosive riffs, melodic and catchy lyrics and solid musicianship alongside their extensive catalog. Although the line up changes throughout the years might have been enough for any other band to call it quits, that has not happened with Shakra. Regardless of the quality material they have dished out for years, they are not as a known commodity in the popular hard rock category with other two greats the likes of Gotthard and Krokus hailing from Swiss country, but why? I don’t know with a back catalog as strong as these guys I can’t see anything wrong with or fault them with sticking with a primary common formula, if it works why change it?

Well early reviews online has some people complaining about the same old sound, sounding more main stream etc blah blah. You know what; sure fair assessment but is a musical preference that the band has continued to work with and since their steady last record of “Back on Track” in 2011 they have returned with a similar formula and consistency fluidity that makes this album one of their better ones. Returning is lead vocalist John Prakesh again with his traditional Hard Rock pipes and adding a strong back bone are guitar players Thom Blunier and Thomas Muster who provide the listener with more tight riffing and keen spot solos throughout the albums playback.

The band has decided to go with the rock ballad “Wonderful Life” as their first single and video, don’t judge a book by it’s cover; yes is slow but is not indicative of the rest of the record. Songs like “Life is Now” and “Higher” are both hard rocking numbers with oomph and crisp drumming and the guitar dominates sharply. Some really tight songs continues to resonate through your senses with the more catchy hook of “Save You From Yourself” sounding a bit like a melodic Jorn Lande and his recent material. One of the premier prime cuts comes via the spicy guitar maddening tricks of “Don’t Keep Me Waiting” melodic meets intensity heavy riffing, blast it loud and proud and bang your head!!!

Upon multiple listens my suspicions are confirmed, yes Shakra still kicks ass no matter how many times you say they sound the same or have driven their sound in spots towards a more commercial sound. Bottom line is that they still rock hard and yes while Powerplay may bit a diverse in spots, the overall feel still tickles my tummy with Melodic/Hard Rock riffing and good times vibes. While it is perfectly clear that Shakra has evolved from just plain rocking tunes to in some tracks a more modern commercial sound, the overall feel of the record is still distinctively theirs and their sound in bulk has not changed. That may be a good thing or perhaps we can just hold serve on their new record that would be the eventual decision by the listener. Again at the end of the day this album still holds more water with consistency then most bands trying to break ground. Forget about that Shakra rocks and you know it and this record does nothing to disavow that opinion in my case. ---Denys, myglobalmind.com

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