Doro Pesch formed her solo project DORO in 1989 after the split with the iconic Heavy Metal band WARLOCK. The German Heavy Metal queen has an impressive discography to her name and among this are 14 full-length albums, 11 EP, and several live albums. “Conqueress – Forever Strong And Proud” includes the appearance of several guest appearances and session musicians. The album has a length ranging from 55 and 80 minutes depending on the version, and it was released via German Metal specialists Nuclear Blast.

 “Conqueress – Forever Strong And Proud” is the album release and the 40^th anniversary celebration of Doro Pesch. Her contribution and impact on Metal in Germany and Europe is huge as well as her encouraging influence on females in Metal, which led to almost a revolution during the last 20 years or so, as we see a large number of female-fronted bands in nearly all Metal genres today. So, the new album of DORO is meant to be an album for all women who conquered Metal.

 The album production was extensive, and the result was massive in terms of quantity. Depending on the version, there are 15 to 20 songs. The 40^th anniversary release is not a Best of album, it is an original album with a mixture of original and cover songs, and it also comes with a few guest contributions. The album starts with the epic and anthemic “Children Of The Dawn” and this is perhaps message that DORO sends out to the Metal world: we are all children of the dawn. While the fast and dynamic “Fire In The Sky” reminds me on the early WARLOCK period, I was left confused by the cover version of the JUDAS PRIEST classic “Living After Midnight”. Perhaps better suited as one of the bonus tracks as it is a duet with the Metal God himself, but I really did not like the final product of this great Metal classic.

 One feature of the music of Doro Pesch is the, at times over-engineered, catchiness and the hooks in her songs. The new album is rich on this, sometimes it works well as in “All For You” or “Time For Justice”, but sometimes it is almost ridiculous as in “Lean Mean Rock Machine”, which I would consider as one of the album lows. Speaking about poor album songs, “Lean Mean Rock Machine” is unfortunately not alone, it is even topped by “Bond Unending”, which is another duet, this time with Sammy Amara (BROILERS). “Bond Unending” has been released as video, and the YouTube link is provided below.

 Another feature of Doro Pesch albums are the ballads. The one who made her famous beyond Metal is of course the epic “Für Immer” and this will be unrivalled forever. The “Fels In Der Brandung” is one of the album ballads on “Conqueress – Forever Strong And Proud” and the only song in German. Especially the cheesy lyrics show that “Fels In Der Brandung” is lightyears away from becoming a Doro Pesch classic. The other ballad is much better. “Best In Me” is really a powerful song and brings out the best of Doro Pesch in terms of her vocal performance.

 There are a few tracks on the album that are average, however, there are also a few more dynamic tracks such as “Heavenly Creatures” or the anthemic “Rise”, which is one of my favorite album tracks. The final album song on the version without bonus tracks is another cover song. “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” is not what I would connect with Metal, however, the vocal contribution of Rob Halford gives the track a different dimension, yet I think it would have been better one of the bonus tracks. It leaves us with the bonus track section, and here are a few tracks that make up for some other album tracks: “Horns Up High” is my ultimate favorite, the epic “True Metal Maniacs” and the METALLICA cover of “The Four Horsemen” are other highlights. James Hetfield, what an opportunity to bring Doro Pesch on stage for the upcoming METALLICA tour.

 I am not sure what to make out of DORO’s 40^th anniversary album. While others do a Best of or release a Box Set, Doro Pesch did a mixture of an original album enriched with cover and bonus tracks. I feel that “Conqueress – Forever Strong And Proud” is too lengthy and there are too many average songs on it. The album is very well produced. “Conqueress – Forever Strong And Proud” includes a few highlights in the usual Doro Pesch manner: epic and anthemic traditional Heavy Metal songs and her fans will love her for that. Is that enough for delivering a good album? I am not sure about that.