Doro: Conqueress – Forever Strong and Proud
Reviewed By: Billy Klare
Review Score: 8.0
Doro released her eighteenth studio album Conqueress – Forever Strong And Proud on October 27th, 2023 through Nuclear Blast Records. She hails from Germany starting her music career as the frontwoman for the metal band Warlock from 1982 – 1988 who released four albums. Legal issues involving the Warlock band name resulted in future albums issued under the Doro moniker (fourteen more albums). That’s an impressive forty-year career in metal and why Doro is known as the “Metal Queen”.
Conqueress – Forever Strong And Proud delivers fifteen new songs mostly in the two-to-four-minute range and includes five equally strong bonus tracks. The song writing is diverse including fist raising sing-along metal anthems that Doro does best, emotional ballads, varied song pacing (rock, bluesy, hard rock and metal) and some interesting cover song surprises. The tracks rarely overstay their welcome, are memorable and encourage repeat listens. Doro shares vocal duties on three songs with Rob Halford of Judas Priest and Sammy Amara from the popular German band The Broilers.
The album opens strongly with an epic marching into battle song ‘Children Of The Dawn’ reminding me of a much tamer Amon Amarth which features some near-death metal backing vocals. A killer track led by Doro’s raspy melodic vocal delivery. ‘Fire In The Sky’ picks up the pace highlighting shredding guitars, thunderous drumming and an addictive hook laced chorus. The first of two Rob Halford duets follows next on ‘Living After Midnight’, a fun approach to the classic song with the vocal interaction between Doro and Rob very effective but they both stick to the original song blueprint. ‘All For You’ tricks you into thinking it will be ballad but builds in intensity led by a rapidly increasing drum pace and features some outstanding guitar shredding and a massive anthemic sing-along chorus.
‘Lean Mean Rock Machine’ is slower heavy track highlighting some cool guitar riffs but the song writing is a little too repetitive or generic making it less memorable compared to the first four tracks. Lyrically, the entire song is shouting the song title. The album rebounds nicely with ‘I will Prevail’ showcasing Doro’s powerful vocals featuring another anthemic chorus, strong supporting band performance and the cool aggressive death metal backing vocals from the album opener makes a return visit. Vocalist Sammy Amara from the German band The Broilers joins Doro on ‘Bond Unending’ providing a nice change of pace on the album. A traditional rock song featuring another memorable vocal interaction.
‘Time For Justice’ is a classic kick-ass Doro anthemic song that will surely be a staple in future live performances. Once again, the album shifts direction with the multi-lingual (German / English) ballad ‘Fels In Der Brandung’ emphasizing Doro’s beautiful vocal tone. ‘Love Breaks The Chains’ begins with an angelic intro but spends most of the time in the hard rock zone with a strong Doro passionate vocal performance. “Drive Me Wild” follows the path of the previously mentioned ‘Lean Mean Rock Machine’ and feels too repetitive once again, not one of the albums better tracks. ‘Rise’ is incredibly brief, but the pace picks up and Doro’s melodic vocals / chorus is incredibly addictive.
Doro continues to vary the song writing with another ballad ‘Best In Me’ that’s emotional, dynamic and slightly haunting. ‘Heavenly Creatures’ is a melodic hard rock tune showcasing Doro’s broad vocal range and impressive vocal hooks. The record closes with a surprise cover duet with Rob Halford on ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart’ that works brilliantly in my opinion. Doro’s raspy vocals are perfect for this Bonnie Tyler classic, and I absolutely love Rob and Doro’s emotional vocal interaction. It shouldn’t work but it does.
Conqueress – Forever Strong And Proud is an impressive album that will broadly appeal to traditional metal fans. Doro shows no sign of slowing down, this record easily stands with some of her best work spanning her forty-year career. Doro’s vocals are powerful, mature and melodic supported by her bandmates who deliver an equally strong performance and contribute to the song writing. After fully absorbing this record and seeing Doro confidently headline Wacken Open Air 2023 in Germany with a special 40th anniversary set – the “Metal Queen” designation remains 100% accurate.
Bonus Tracks – Quick Review
Not sure how Doro determined which songs would be included as part of the album vs. a bonus track but I liked a few bonus tracks more than two or three of the actual album tracks. ‘Warlocks And Witches’ is short a melodic spoken word intro. ‘Horns Up High’ is a fun pirate metal track in the style of Alestorm. I loved ‘True Metal Maniac’ which is a slower blues rock song perfectly suited to Doro’s voice. ‘Heart In Pain’ is a hard rock tune featuring some chunky guitar riffs and catchy vocal melodies. Lastly, ‘The Four Horseman’ is a cool Metallica cover in the Doro style and far less intense relative to the original. The production on the bonus tracks is not as polished.
Conqueress – Forever Strong And Proud is available now via Nuclear Blast Records.
Track Listing
Children Of The Dawn
Fire In The Sky
Living After Midnight
All For You
Lean Mean Rock Machine
I Will Prevail
Bond Unending
Time for Justice
Fels In Der Brandung
Love Breaks Chains
Drive Me Wild
Rise
Best In Me
Heavenly Creatures
Total Eclipse of The Heart
Bonus Track – Warlocks And Witches
Bonus Track – Horns Up High
Bonus Track – True Metal Maniacs
Bonus Track – Heart In Pain
Bonus Track – The Four Horseman