Shakra-Powerplay

AFM Records
2013

Kind of crazy that these guys have been around for 20 years or so and this is the first I've ever heard the name. Seeing as there albums are all rather highly rated you'd think they would have turned up on my radar. Especially seeing as they play straight-ahead hard rock/heavy metal that is very old-school and yet modern. More on that in a bit though. Here I like to think I have a pretty good grasp on the various scenes and here is this is this band from Switzerland churning out album after album of solid rock and I'm left in the dark. Well, what to do about it then? For starters I'll sit through this album and see what all the fuse is about. And so I did. I stepped away from this review and listened to Shakra's "Powerplay" on my headphones in a secluded location (otherwise my basement computer area) and my impression? Well, I'm not going to kick myself repeatedly for missing out on this band. They are good enough to get the job done, but just like Gold (who I reviewed yesterday) they just fade into the background for me. If they were a bit more catchy that might be something, but as it stood I listened to it and thought "Am I missing something?". Sometimes it's harder rock/almost metal ("Life Is Now", "Higher", "Dear Enemy") and other times more like power rock ("Stevie", "Dream Of Mankind"). With variety like that and even AOR-like material (the ballad "Wonderful Life") you'd expect some sort of shape-up between songs. I even went back through the songs again to see if it was better a second time through. Same result. A good enough album, but not sure what all the fuss was/is about unless this album really pales compared to their older ones?