Review : DORO – “Fear No Evil”

Doro – “Fear No Evil”
released February 3, 2009 on AFM Records

Though the German siren has been proudly belting out power metal for over a quarter century now (as evidenced in the track “25 Years”), her voice has aged well. You can hear how she is adept at both gritty battle calls (the lead track, which brings to mind her original band, Warlock), and tender croons (5, which is also sung in her native tongue).

The album fails to succeed as a whole because she is all you hear half the time, as her band is buried in the mix (check the guitars in 5, and the thinnest drums ever on 6). It sounds uncomfortably like rough demos and not a finished product. The album falls in power ballad land from the Tarja Turunen (ex-Nightwish) duet onward, and ends on a valid, though kinda redundant and self-congratulatory, note. But before it gets there, you gotta tough through a chorus that chillingly evokes “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion (10). I say quit after “Celebrate”, which has quite a who’s-who of the metal world, including members of Saxon, Girlschool, Arch Enemy, Benedictum, and more!

FCC OK
Try 1, 2, 3

01. Night Of The Warlock
02. Running From The Devil
03. Celebrate
04. Caught In A Battle
05. Herzblut
06. On The Run
07. Walking With The Angels
08. I Lay My Head Upon My Sword
09. It Kills Me
10. Long Lost For Love
11. 25 Years

Rating: