Doro - Calling the Wild

After flirting with other areas of music, including recent industrial efforts, ex-Warlock beauty Doro returns to her roots with an energetic and definitely metallic disc that is charged with sexuality and old fashion metal goodness. Her voice is as vibrant as ever, in fact she sounds lightyears better now than she did in her youth fronting Warlock. The maturity that has both softened and tempered her vocal chords over time has also strengthened her influence over the mic. For those that don't know what Pesch sounds like, she is both feminine and powerful at the same time, her voice having the same kind of drive as her male counterparts. This enables her to take uptempo rockers and crooning ballads with equal ease, never once sounding too 'sissy' to be singing them. Its difficult pinpointing a similiar vocalist to Doro, and the closest imaginable match is none other than Cher (try to picture her mid 80s material, not her 70s Sonny and Cher thing or her 90s adventure into dance-pop) except a little rougher around the edges although not near as grating as Lita Ford can be.

1. Kiss Me Like A Cobra - From the opening thump and seductive lyrics (with vocals to match), its apparent that this is Doro at her best. The song writhes around, twisting and slithering like a snake, complete with the dangerously entrancing rattle and a venomous bite.
2. Dedication - Thick crunching guitars and slamming drums splay this song wide open, beckoning the listener to peer into its depths. This is one of those tunes that allow her to really blast the lyrics with gritty conviction. For those that believe that women can't sing metal properly and with *balls*, should take a listen to this solidly composed piece. Of note is the fact that Al Petrilli adds his touch of brilliance to the tune, making the axeslinging really stand out with his perfect blend of fire and ice.
3. Burn It Up - The Live feel of this cranked rocker is undeniable. A powerful and very classic tune, complete with "ohhhhohhhhhh" in the background and her machine gun fired vocals lighting up the forefront.
4. Give Me Your Reason - Like a rich confection, this song is both sweet and fullfilling. The lyrics are nicely done, as is the delivery. The wandering guitar solo is the perfect touch, wrapping itself around the song snugly.
5. Who You Love - This one is handled with a feminine touch and comes across as a huge pop tune that reminds me of Cher's mid 80s efforts that saw her climbing to new success. Doro brings plenty of charisma to this stingingly addictive tune.
6. Scarred - A different mood altogether than what has been explored previously on the album. Mysteriously introspective with an unusual sorrow tinged beat, then it ascends to higher levels at the command of her voice, the swirling background then incorporating guitars that yawn with feedback. Its ending is handled beautifully with tortured wailing electric guitar and Doro matching it's pain with heart wrenched cries of "scarred".
7. Ich Will Alles - The first single from "Calling the Wild" and it certainly is a 'wild' one. Its a mini hurricane, completely in German, contained within the confines of a little over 2 minutes, which is even short for radio-ready songs. Pleasantly rocking, but lacks some of the virtuosic thunder I kept waiting for it to explode into.
8. White Wedding - Rivaling even Billy Idol's rendition of the song, this one is screaming. The female frontwoman seems right at home blasting the lyrics to this tune, which is hard to imagine being handled by anyone but Idol's version. Very nicely done, suitable to sing-a-long to, and one that gets lots of airtime here.
9. I Wanna Live - The question is "who doesn't?", if they don't there's something seriously wrong with them. Clocking in at under 3 minutes, this is classic 80s, with a slightly more modern feel to the underlying crunch and could have easily been a Warlock tune.
10. Love Me Forever - Right when things are beginning to flow together too much, this mixed bag crops up. While the sections where she sings solo is haunting and of course the blistering guitar accompanying and following her are very nice, the rest of the song includes Lemmy Killmiester who is annoying at best, his voice stumbling along clumsily, but then again I was never a fan of Motorhead so any appeal in this duet is quite lost on me, and in my eyes brings the song down.
11. Fuel - "Im exhausted baby I need a shot!" You just know this one is going to crank up, and that it does, drenched in urgently pleading sexual overtones and screaming guitar. Pure heavy metal, in a perfect little package, some extras are thrown in for good measure. "I need you, my angel of love."
12. Constant Danger - As natural as it gets, lulling acoustic and voice, and that's it. A story-driven tear stained stripped ballad-esque song, pleasant enough for what it is, Doro's voice almost reaching angelic heights, a sorrowful fallen angel that is. "Don't you know I was an angel, dont you know my heart was true? Then I gave it to some devil... and he broke it all in two, I don't need it anymore.."
13. Black Rose - Delicate, yet retaining that overwhelming essence of pain, this calm and strangely restful ballad (despite the subject matter) drips with a soft elegance and its own sense of charm illuminated in the atmospheric background. "Black Rose" radiates with a totally different feel and sound than the previous almost country flavored "Constant Danger", the contrast is almost startling in the way they are totally worlds apart.
14. Now or Never - This is a pure thundering head banger. Its hard not to bob one's head up and down with the drum rhythm here, before it spins out into desperate vocals and grinding modern kissed slightly offkey sounding guitar which backs up the crystal pure notes of the squealing lead electric, handled by ex-Guns N Roses guitarist Slash.
15. Danke - A rhythm like the dual beat of two hearts, meandering piano flourishes, and of course the golden voice of Pesch who sheds her rough exterior once again, revealing only the vunerable female singer underneath. The song has an overall slightly epic feel, but what the lyrics illustrate that goes along with the music, I can only guess since the entire song is delivered in German, but its a suitable rather low-key finish to a mighty fine album.

Having only a passing acceptance of Warlock after hearing only one of their albums, and armed with the knowledge of Doro straying from her metal beginnings with her solo career, I approached this album with trepidation, but it seems my fears were unfounded. The sheer amount of variety in "Calling the Wild" is enough to make it highly recommended on my list, as I love well written albums that spice up the recipe and layout with something a little different than the usual, and Doro Pesch's return to metal, fits the bill nicely. Listening to a non-opera but very capable and purely 'metal' female vocalist is also a rare treat, with her versatile vocals fitting to the music like a custom skin-tight leather glove. While a few things need changing here and there (mainly the removal of some certain male 'singing' - if you can call it that), I found "CtW" to be overall pleasing to the senses and an interesting listen. Never does she overstay her welcome with most songs around the 3 minute mark, there's just enough little doses of Doro to keep the listener wanting more, tantalizing enough to ensure you will come back a second time, a third and perhaps even four. With guest stars abound, including Bob Kulick sneaking in on production credits, "CtW" is good enough to warrant purchasing, and solid enough to continue playing throughout the year and beyond.

8.3
Review by Alanna Evans -
Wondering if Doro is singing about a real snake or something else, tsk!
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