I believe that Doro is already writing pages for a brand new chapter in her music history. So, after the success of the '25 Years In Rock' concert our Metal Queen taking advantage of this momentum storms the Metal scene with a new album entitled Fear No Evil and is illustrated with a beautiful cover art.
I have to be honest; after the pretty good Warrior Soul I was not expecting some impressive from DORO. Fortunately, Fear No Evil came to prove I was totally wrong. It seems that the love expressed by her fans in the recent anniversary concert renewed her strength and this album is definitely the best way to say 'thank you.'
The albums opens with Night Of The Warlock that is also found in the recent Celebrate Ep. The song is kept simply and thus catchy in the DORO way. The Queen's voice is still harsh and emotional just like the one we all fell in love back in our early days. Running From The Devil is next and the name WARLOCK hits your brain; the guitars are brought one step forward spitting straightforward riffs under the support of a massive drum sound. Leaving behind the already discussed Celebrate in my past review (click here to read again) there is a nice Heavy Metal surprise named Caught In A Battle. This song is fast and Heavy comprising a killer main guitar riff. The battle sounds (explosions and cries) are excellently combined to the music enhancing the overall heaviness making it a 'must' for the future DORO concert (with the appropriate effects).
The power ballads were and as it seems still are DORO's signature songs. Herzblut, Walking With The Angels and It Kills Me are three beautiful ballads guided by Doro expressional and definitely erotic voice. In Walking With The Angels Doro shares the vocal duties with Tarjia Turunen (ex-NIGHTWISH of course). Here I have to underline my disagreement with fellow Templar Erika who commented in her '25 Years In Rock' report that these two voices simply do not match. I believe that this misguided judgment is simply the sound technician's fault since the studio version reveals an excellent co-operation. Tarjia's operatic voice and Doro's deep and harsh timbre will simply send shivers down your spine especially in the first bridge were the ladies exchange places behind the microphone.
Some will say that this album is predictable with cliche melodies and naive lyrics without any deeper meanings. Indeed this is the case with Fear No Evil but this is what I enjoyed most and this is what the current Metal scene lacks of. We have 'complicated' arrangements that are (most of them) hard to understand and digest leaving behind the 'simple' Metal songs that were talking to our soul full of passion and emotions.
The album closes with another celebration song simply entitled 25 Years; with this one Doro says thank you again to all her fans who were/are supporting her. Having spoken to the lady herself I have to tell you that she feels an honest gratitude for everyone who has supported her during these 25 years in Metal. I think that writing a song about it, is the best way to express these feelings and thoughts about this long journey in music.
This album takes a look on the DORO/WARLOCK past bringing along a heavier sound with more guitars and headbanging rhythms. The music was written to be played live and this is proven through the catchy and sing-along choruses and fist raising lyrics. To wrap this up I can only say that here is no doubt that Doro is still and will be the ultimate Metal Queen.