A wide smile appears on my face whenever I come across a Swiss band.  This extremely 'settled down' country cannot burst with pride for the quantity of its bands but, regarding the musical 'taste', there's no need to mention anything more than the names themselves: from Krokus to Celtic Frost, from China to Apocalypse, from Gotthard to Coroner, it's not that hard to familiarize yourself with anything that comes out of the land of banks, cheese and clocks! Shakra may be around for some years, still it's a new addition to my 'ears database' and I was quite curious to see what's up with the band's Fall release. Roll it!
Formed in the mid-90's, Bern melodic rockers Shakra inked a deal with Munich's Point-Music for the release of their same-titled debut in 1998. Japan was a success (weird...) and Europe followed, while the band supported the legendary Wishbone Ash, Y. Malmsteen and Bonfire in various sets of gigs. Moving Force (1999) rolled on in the same mid-European melodic Rock direction (similar to the style that Bonfire adopted in the 90's) and triumphant support slots to Uriah Heep and Great White 'pushed' the quintet in its first live release, The Live Side (2000).
Well, shit happens everyday and (then) singer Pete left the band after the Power Ride album (2001) - due to health problems - with newcomer Mark Fox being 'tested' at famous summer fests such as Wacken Open Air and Bang our Head (hard task...). Thus, Rising came out in 2003 and the fame of this band upr-rised to an even higher level, resulting in a successful set of live gigs with the country's legend, Krokus. A change of labels - AFM Records acted fast - occurred last year and it's not even been ten years now with Shakra presenting their fifth full length album. Hard workers, I must say!
Well, Fall did sound quite good to my ears. It's not the type of production I like - not that clear, with enough fuzz in the guitars - but in terms of songwriting I think the band achieves what's needed! Great hooks, intelligent melodies, good mood, cool performance by all members and the hoarse voice of Mark Fox all result in an album surely to be loved by fans that keen on the Gotthard, (90's) Bonfire, Harem Scarem, Domain and all this mid-European 'current' Hard Rock sound. Mid-tempo tunes mostly, with 1-2 more slowly moving tracks, featuring Take Me Now, How It Feels and Make It Alright as my personal faves. Not that you can easily distinguish your favorites, as the whole album is surely 'solid', not lacking of rhythm and melody in any track.
After all, it's only Rock 'n' Roll and we like it! Fall will be the next melodic Rock CD you'll buy if you liked Gotthard's Lipservice and (or) the differentiation Harem Scarem provided in their last effort. I think that, after Krokus and Gotthard, Shakra surely grab the 3rd position in their country's genre ranks. Nothing earthshaking but surely recommended!