Doro – Conqueress: Forever Strong and Proud
Doro – Conqueress: Forever Strong And Proud
Nuclear Blast
Release Date: 27/10/23
Running Time: 01:17:05
Review by Simon Black
10/10
“Now that’s how you do Heavy Metal!” My 17-year-old self wrote those words in my diary in 1987, fresh from an evening at Nottingham’s Royal Centre, having watched the inestimable Dio, with the relatively hot off the blocks Warlock touring their 3rd opus “Triumph And Agony” in support blow the city a new ventilation hole. In those days a female fronted band was something of a rarity, and there were annoying comments circulating around how men were allegedly better at that sort of vocal style, which thankfully got kicked where they belong in the fucking sea that night, because my diary entry was in reference to Doro’s performance, and not the headliner’s.
On that night and for over 40 years Doro has been proving that sort of sexist bullshit and the people who spout it as an utter waste of space. Her performance that night was frankly incredible, as it has indeed been every time I have seen her perform since, and she has lost none of the power, range and sheer charisma in her delivery. And unlike the rest of us, she still looks almost exactly the same over three decades later! The odd thing for me though, is that although I’ve still got the back Warlock catalogue lying around on vinyl from those days and have made the effort to go and watch her shows many times since then, I haven’t ever sat down and listened to one of her solo studio albums before. I may have found an excellent place to start…
Value for money is the first thing that jumps out with this latest opus, which with a whopping twenty tracks and near hour and twenty minutes of run time gives you plenty to enjoy. And it’s of a consistently good quality to boot, which ain’t easy to sustain over that sort of run time, but she does it effortlessly. With music that’s still as solidly traditional Heavy Fucking Metal as when I first heard her, this album is fresh and punchy throughout, although ‘Fire In The Sky’ and ‘Lean, Mean Rock Machine’ stand out as likely live floor rippers. Even when things go lower key, she surprises with the dual language ‘Fels In Der Brandung’ holds the attention, and would probably work as a Bond movie opening titles backing track…
Then there’s the three covers tucked away in here… Judas Priest covers crop up in the Doro live set from time to time, but with not one but two duets with Rob Halford, firstly with Priest’s ‘Livin’ After Midnight’, but then more surprisingly with Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ Doro proves why she’s better than a vast number of her male counterparts when she can share this as an equal partner with a singer we can all agree is one of the best in the business. Even the final cover of Metallica’s ‘The Four Horseman’ is positively riveting throughout, and more charismatically delivered than the original ever was…
Bolshy, fearless, true to her roots and utterly flawlessly delivered, this illustrates why Doro is held in such high respect.
Doro – ‘Livin’ After Midnight’
TRACKLISTING:
01. Children Of The Dawn
02. Fire In The Sky
03. Living After Midnight
04. All For You
05. Lean Mean Rock Machine
06. I Will Prevail
07. Bond Unending
08. Time For Justice
09. Fels in der Brandung
10. Love Breaks Chains
11. Drive Me Wild
12. Rise
13. Best In Me
14. Heavenly Creatures
15. Total Eclipse Of The Heart
16. Bonus Track: Warlocks And Witches
17. Bonus Track: Horns Up High
18. Bonus Track: True Metal Maniacs
19. Bonus Track: Heart In Pain
20. Bonus Track: The Four Horsemen
LINE-UP:
Doro Pesch – Lead Vocals
Johnny Dee – Drums, Backing Vocals
Bas Maas – Guitars, Backing vocals
Stefan Herkenhoff – Bass, Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Bill Hudson – Guitars
LINKS:
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