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Metal/Prog Metal CD Reviews

Doro

Fear No Evil

Review by Gary Hill

You can never go wrong with a Doro album. Sure, the sound is not often cutting edge – or even surprising. But it’s consistently good.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2009  Volume 4 at lulu.com/strangesound.
Track by Track Review
Night of the Warlock
The introduction on this features the sounds of a storm, followed by a voice that sounds like some powerful, evil entity. He speaks an introduction. The cut shifts out from a cool power metal jam from there. This crunches along in fine fashion. It's not a surprise, but it just rocks. It really does feel quite a bit like the old Warlock albums. The entity is heard laughing at a couple points throughout this stomper.
Running from the Devil

This screamer is less power metal in nature. It’s a killer, rather raw, grind that works very well. This might not be as dynamic as the opener, but it’s stronger. This is a great tune.

Celebrate

Perhaps less raw and even less powerful, this has more of a singalong anthem sort of texture. It’s got a gang vocal chorus and a stripped down verse. This has a who’s who list that includes a ton of metallers guesting.

Caught in a Battle

This is the most raw piece we’ve heard to this point. I’d have to say it’s a bit of a change for Doro. I’m not completely enamored with it, but it does work pretty well and I respect the change of pace that it represents.

Herzblut

A pretty balladic number – at least at first, this is in German. It powers up into an anthemic metal ballad as it continues. This isn’t a surprise as we’ve always gotten songs like this from Doro. As always, though, it works like a charm. These never fail. The one thing I have to say is, while the title mean’s “heart blood,” I can’t help listening to it and hearing “my hair’s blue.” Can’t imagine what it must be like to be a non-English speaker in a sea of songs in English.

On the Run

This more in the type of power metal style that we last heard on “Running From the Devil.” It’s another strong cut. While it’s not a big surprise it rocks. I love the killer riff that comes in on the faster paced section. It reminds me (as does a lot of the song after that point) of Judas Priest.

Walking with the Angels

Here is another ballad. It’s a duet with Tarja Turunen and the two voices compliment each other very well. This is a great piece of music and one of my favorites on show here.

I Lay My Head

A slow moving, epic styled metal cut. This is almost a ballad, but it’s way too crunchy to call it that. It’s a great tune no matter what you call it, though.

It Kills Me

The early portions of this could almost be called “ballad.” The thing is the sound is so dark and doomy I just can’t see that conveying the right idea. This feels more like some of the more contemplative heavy stuff you might hear from Black Sabbath. That section makes up the verses but the chorus is more typical Doro metal. This is a highlight of the disc.

Long Lost for Love

More typical of the music we’re used to hearing from Doro, this is an anthemic power ballad and it’s another great tune.

25 Years
This one starts off with a weird little section that’s almost techno in nature. It shifts out after a while to more typical slow moving metal and is another potent cut that serves as a strong conclusion to the CD.
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