Band:	Shakra
Album:	Rising
Style:	Hard rock, Heavy metal
Release date:	August 2003

01. Now Or Never
02. Done Me Wrong
03. Too Good For Me
04. I Will Be There
05. Rising High
06. Little Stories
07. My Life - My World
08. Sign In The Sky
09. Run Away
10. Fight The Fire
11. Anything
12. Trapped

"Rising High! Unto the sky! Fly so high without fear of falling down!"

Well, well, I've known this CD for about three years, maybe even a bit longer. But only recently it has started getting my attention again. I loved this CD before I got into metal and then kind of forgot about it. A shame that this great CD was collecting dust during all that time because it absolutely didn't deserve it. Now that I've gotten a bit more open-minded to metal and music in general since a few months ago I also decided to give this baby a second chance. Was it a good idea? Fuck yeah!

Hard rock with some slices of melody and added catchiness, in other words, Shakra. Shakra are quite famous here in Switzerland, having supported bands like Iron Maiden, Dream Theater, Hammerfall and Stratovarius amongst others. Because really, who doesn't like these crunchy and awesomely catchy riffs? All rather simple but because of that just the more enjoyable. Also the lyrics are simple too, but good because of that.

Don't get the idea that this is a masterpiece though, it's certainly not. This isn't a CD that has enough variation to make you want to listen to it for hours. Nor does it have enough technicality that you can just concentrate on the music and do nothing else without ever getting bored. No, instead this is the album you'll want to put in the player just once in a while, but thoroughly enjoy it when you do. The kind of album that you can listen to while doing other stuff, to make it more enjoyable without having to concentrate on the music too much. And for these things Shakra - Rising is PERFECT!

Awesome riffs and a lot of emotion make this album an absolute gem in it's genre. It's not per se technical at all, but it's audibly made by musicians who have a great time while making their music. Exactly the spirit music should have!

So next time you want to listen to something which doesn't take too much concentration to listen to, give this here a try and enjoy some great hardrock/heavy metal songs like "Rising High," "I Will Be There" and "Little Stories." You most definitely won't regret it.