Shakra - Snakes and Ladders Review

By -

Concise Summary:

Shakra is certainly not a new band, but Snakes and Ladders is the first album that I have listened to from them. The first thing that immediately stood out to me was the vocals. They are a bit too whiny for my liking; it sounds like the singer is singing through his nose but also adding compression to his vocals. That ends up making a raspy/whiny sound, kind of like early M. Shadows vocals from Avenged Sevenfold, but not as refined and with a warmer, more full rasp. As I think about it, 
the singer from Shakra sounds a bit like the singer from Nocturnal Rites, but more nasally. Aside from that, I really like the instrumentals on this album: it's another cool example of throwback-sounding music with modern recording. I like the old-school approach of just drums, vocals, guitar, and bass without much for any other instruments. Because there aren't an overwhelming number of instruments going at once, no ear fatigue really sets in, and the mixing on the album is good as well, which further restores my faith in AFM.... Overall, this is a fun, warm-sounding, approachable, throwback-type album, but it definitely has some issues. 

My Rating: 6.5 out of 10


Highlights:
  • Really fun throwback sound
  • Overall warm and approachable sound to the album
  • Good mixing
Lowlights:
  • Vocal style is pretty annoying at certain points in the album. Also, the vocal style never really changes. 
  • Occasionally very repetitive lyrics
  • Fairly boring/lame lyrics which I guess kind of adds to the approachable style of the album, but definitely gets old over fifty minutes...
  • Lack of songwriting diversity
Favorite Songs:
  • Snakes and Ladders
  • The Seeds
  • The End of Days
More Info:

Shakra Official

Shakra Facebook

Shakra Twitter

Shakra Encyclopaedia Metallum 

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this review are solely those of the author of this article and serve only to convey his opinion of the album in question, not to harm the band. 

Comments

  1. A.J. SpaudeNovember 28, 2017 at 11:23 AM

    Follow me on Facebook and Twitter @BPMetalReviews to stay updated on the latest reviews!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Unguided - And The Battle Royale Review

By -
Image
Concise Summary: The Unguided is a band that has apparently been around for quite awhile, but I just found them today. After listening to their newest album, And The Battle Royale, I think I'll be listening to more of their music in the future! And The Battle Royale has fairly synth-driven songs with both clean and screamed vocals. The style is almost like synth-driven metalcore, which I think is a pretty cool and unique concept. That being said, And The Battle Royale doesn't display much style diversity - most of the album is pretty much only has that metalcore-ish sound. As a result, a lot of the songs sound very similar, making the album seem kind of "flat", if you will; the songs seem to run together. Overall, this is a very good album, and I really enjoyed listening to it, but the style diversity is lacking.  My Rating: 8.5 out of 10 Highlights: Excellent vocals Interesting musical style Enjoyable overall sound and feel to the album
Read more

Red - Gone Review

By -
Image
Concise Summary: In my opinion, Release the Panic back in 2013 was a style transition album into Of Beauty and Rage, which, in turn, set the tone for Gone. However, I think that Of Beauty and Rage and Gone sound way too similar. Both albums seem to have apocalyptic themes to the lyrics, there's a lot of synth, the drums are electronic, there are really no technical guitar parts, and the singing is generally quiet with a few screams thrown in for some variety. Granted, it's a pretty unique sound, but having Of Beauty and Rage and Gone sound so similar, especially with regard to lyrical themes, is just... boring. In my opinion, each album should tell a different story, but Gone just seems to tell the same story that Of Beauty and Rage told: a vague, apocalyptic, dark, and fairly hopeless story. Because the story is so vague, it's not even like a two-part continuation. Apart from the story (or lack thereof), Gone is probably a better album than Of Beauty and Rage.
Read more

Hulkoff - KVEN Review

By -
Image
Concise Summary: When I started listening to KVEN, I thought, "Wow, this really sounds like Raubtier." After some quick research, I was somewhat unsurprised to find out that Hulkoff is Pär Hulkoff's solo project, and that he is the lead singer and guitarist for Raubtier. With that perspective, I suppose it's not surprising that Hulkoff sounds almost identical to Raubtier, but I still would have liked to see something different from Hulkoff. As is, KVEN could easily pass as a Raubtier album; there's not much to make it unique. The guitars are extremely heavy and the singing is very guttural, just like Raubtier. The songwriting is based on chugging guitars more than intricate riffs and there isn't much for variety in instruments, again, just like Raubtier. Because Hulkoff is basically one-man Raubtier, it has the same issues as Raubtier. The mixing on KVEN is oppressively balanced toward the low end, the guitar sounds muddy, and half of the songs sound li
Read more