Having formed back in 1997, and with eight studio albums and one live album under their belt, Swiss hard rock quintet Shakra are back with new album 'Back On Track'. The release is scheduled for February 25^th and marks the debut of new vocalist John Prakesh, who joined the band after the departure of Mark Fox. Despite being on the scene for so long, and having toured with legendary bands such as Iron Maiden and reaching #4 in the Swiss album charts, Shakra have still gone largely unnoticed by most rock fans.

This album does have a cross section of styles and they manage to mix heavy riffs with catchy melodies, which put them crossing nicely between both heavy rock and more mainstream rock genres. Having said that though, the album is rather dull and definitely not original. It almost felt like I'd stepped back in time to the 80's which often isn't a bad thing but, in this case, it isn't a positive!

There are a couple of okay tracks such as album opener 'B True B You' and 'MMTWGR' which are both on the heavier side, and more mid-tempo track 'Unspoken Truth' and 'When I See You' which verges on being a ballad. Musically, these tracks are pretty decent but they leave a lot to be desired when it comes to the lyrics.

On the whole, for a band who has been around for such a long time, I expected a lot more from this 2011 release. Instead, I felt as though I was listening to a rather ordinary 80's rock album.

http://www.myspace.com/shakrarock