Doro-Fear no evil

AFM
2009



Doro Pesch has been in the game for a long time and my initial reaction after hearing her latest offering was that the production on her albums has gotten very slick over the years and the writing has grown more and more basic. Now initially that combination doesn't sound altogether promising, but Doro has the voice to elevate mediocre material and she has done it before. Several songs on this album remind me of some of Manowar when they first signed to Atlantic in the 80's. The music is more background than anything despite the volume and most of the emphasis is placed on the vocals. That's as it should be and Doro still has the pipes to make this worth hearing. Her voice has taken on a slightly raspy sound, but she still has what it takes. Her duet with Tarja vocalist Tarja Turunen, "Walking With the Angels" turned out much better than I figured it would. However there were several occasions on this disc where it like they had just swept together ideas from past Doro albums and roughly pieced them together just enough so they would up for her make it through them. It is to her credit that she took average to fair material and elevated it to a decent level, but I also felt she deserved better material to work and the fans sure deserved more substance to take it. Overall this is and above average piece of work and there are some moments, but certainly not one of her best.