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DORO
Raise Your Fist In The Air EP

Nuclear Blast (2012)
Rating: 7.5/10

While she likely needs no introduction to any fan of metal or hard rock, the one-time frontwoman of Warlock returns with an all new EP to whet appetites before her next full-length. The album features three new songs as well as a recording of the title track with a French language vocal.

What I really like about this EP is that in just three songs Doro takes more chances than she has in all of the new millennium combined. The traditional brightness of Doro songs is present here, big and anthemic as ever, but the band gets a little bluesier on this batch of tunes. It’s not a radical departure or anything like that, but it is a nice change of pace.

The title track is a bouncy number with big gang vocals backing explosive leads and Doro’s commanding voice, which has always been more concerned with uniting the masses than dwelling in life’s little shitholes.

‘Victory’ opens with what I assume to be a homage to Black Sabbath’s ‘Iron Man’ (from 1970’s Paranoid), before turning into a poppier grinder where the vocals almost trade off with the guitar’s lead licks. The rhythms here make the song a lot more dynamic, featuring hand clapping and a stomping beat. The track takes a little getting used to, but grows on you throughout repeated listens.

The ballad ‘Engel’ rounds out the EP in a more epic way. Clocking in at a little over five minutes, it’s a beautiful German language soul stirrer that is driven by a haunting piano piece and background strings, accompanied by the occasional thunder, while Doro’s soft and intimate vocals float over top of the creation.

If you would have told me in the mid-90s that Doro would be releasing the best music of her career in the second decade of the new millennium, I probably would have strongly disagreed. Despite that though, I’m elated that the mighty Doro has found her feet so steady in the new millennium and released such amazing traditional hard rock and heavy metal, carrying the torch proudly for yet another generation of metalheads. If you prefer quality over quantity then you’ll love this EP.

Mark Fisher