Country Sweden          Style Melodic Hard Rock

Rating 85/100

Band Members
Anders Lundström – Electric/Acoustic Guitars, Andreas Eklund – Lead Vocals, Mats Hallstensson – Lead/Rhythm/Acoustic Guitars,Vocals, Per Schelander – Bass,Fretless Bass,Keys Programming,Vocals, Tony Andersson – Drums

Tracks
01. Retox (1:12), 02. Small Town (4:16), 03. No Faith (4:09), 04. Crazy But No Fool (3:47), 05. Life And Death (5:17), 06. Gabon Viper (4:31), 07. High Above (3:51), 08. Red Alert (4:24), 09. Bloodline (5:01), 10. Angel Dancer (4:35), 11. Turkish Nights (6:50)

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Profile “Retoxed” is the fifth studio album by Swedish melodic hard rock band “House of Shakira”, originally released in 2007 by “Lion Music”. “House of Shakira” features the incredible vocal talents of Andreas Eklund, the guitars of Mats Hallstensson and Anders Lundstrom and the rhythm section of Tony Andersson and Per Schelander.

The main songwriting formula of “House of Shakira” is founded on rock’n’roll riffs complemented by thick rhythm guitars, standard rhythm section and harmonious choruses that deliver an adult oriented essence to each song. Interestingly enough the album opens on the keyboard-vocal piece “Retox” followed by the melodic hard rock of “Small Town”, “No Faith”, “Life and Death” and “High Above” which perfectly sum up what the Swedish quintet is all about.

It is also important to mention that “Retox” is far from being an over-produced album especially when taking into account the plain sound of the rhythm section and the rather unprocessed vocals which give a somewhat raw, yet authentic, essence to the material. Though far from an outstanding album the fifth studio effort by “House of Shakira” effectively sums up just about everything that is great about the Swedes.

Nikiforos V. Skoumas