Shakra is a Swiss

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band founded in the late 1990s.

History

With their first releases ''Shakra'' (1997), and ''Moving Force'' (1999), and by touring with

Great White Great White is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1977. The band is named after both the shark with the same name, and guitarist Mark Kendall's former stage nickname. In August 2008, Great White estimated they had sold aroun ...

and Uriah Heep, the early career of this Swiss band was a steep learning curve with dramatic success but the real breakthrough came with their third record ''Power Ride'' (2001) when singer Pete Wiedmer was forced to leave the band because of ill health, replaced by Mark Fox. Fox immediately put his stamp on the following album ''Rising'' (2003), which saw Shakra hit the German and Swiss album charts. The band played several concerts and festivals, one of which was the prestigious "Bang Your Head" event. The controversial video clip for the song "Chains Of Temptation" showed singer Fox giving himself a heroin injection. After supporting

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

at the Swiss "Spirit Of Rock" festival, Shakra went on a 12-country tour with

HammerFall HammerFall is a Swedish power metal band from Gothenburg. The band was formed in 1993 by ex- Ceremonial Oath guitarist Oscar Dronjak. They have released thirteen studio albums. History Early days (1993–1996) HammerFall was formed when g ...

and

Stratovarius Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band. Formed in 1984, they have released sixteen studio albums, six DVDs and six live albums. The band's line-up has changed many times, with no founding member left since the departure of drummer Tuomo ...

. The band played a significant show in Zurich with

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

in 2006. Shortly after the ''Everest'' album was released, Mark Fox left the band and was replaced by John Prakesh on vocals. The band released "Back On Track" in February 2011 and "Powerplay" in January 2013. On April 23, 2014, John Prakesh announced he was leaving Shakra. In October 2015, Mark Fox joined Shakra again. A new single, "Hello", was released.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Shakra'' (1998) * ''Moving Force'' (1999) * ''Power Ride'' (2001) * ''Rising'' (2003) * ''Fall'' (2005) * ''Infected'' (2007) * ''Everest'' (2009) * ''Back on Track'' (2011) * ''Powerplay'' (2013) * ''High Noon'' (2016) * ''Snakes & Ladders'' (2017) * ''Mad World'' (2020) * ''Invincible'' (2023)

Live albums

* ''The Live Side'' (2000) * ''My Life My World'' (2004)

Compilation albums

* ''Life Tales – The Ballads'' (2017)

External links

Official Homepage

Official Facebook account

Shakra Myspace Page
{{Authority control Swiss heavy metal musical groups English-language musical groups from Switzerland Musical groups established in 1997