Nuclear Blast
2012
1. Raise Your Fist In The Air
2. Coldhearted Lover
3. Rock Till Death
4. It Still Hurts
5. Take No Prisoner
6. Grab The Bull (Last Man Standing)
7. Engel
8. Freiheit (Human Rights)
9. Little Headbanger (Nackenbrecher)
10. Revenge
11. Free My Heart
12. Victory
13. Hero
Doro is just a classic in the scene and will always have a place with me as the queen of metal. Not every release she's made has been a winner, but she gives it all to her fans and has made some killer material along the way. Not to mention she is the definition of one truly Metal woman and has an amazing and unique voice. I wasn't huge on her last album, Fear No Evil, but it did grow on me to an extent and I loved it's predecessor Warrior Soul. Basically, what I was hoping for was a return to form and a cleaner sound than the last album which seemed awkward and messy at times.
After listening to Raise Your Fist I think I can pretty much sum the album up as simple, but effective. Raise Your Fist is pretty well represented by it's title as this album is all about straight up fist pumping anthems. Short and sweet tracks that are really about rocking out and have a somewhat retro feel to them. This sort of material suits Doro pretty well as she has good energy and knows how to carry this type of material, especially in a live setting. Raise Your Fist just comes off very likable and gets the head moving. Tracks like Raise Your Fist In The Air and Rock Till Death are just all about pumping you up and indeed working the crowd live. Not a bad approach at all.
Also peppered in are some slow down ballad moments which are typical of Doro. Guest appearances are also fairly common to her albums and a nice one on this release is Lemmy once again partnering up with Doro for the ballad It Still Hurts. Surprisingly mellow performance by Lemmy. I've heard him do ballads before of course, but he doesn't come off as gravelly as usual on this. Engel is also a strong ballad and my favorite slower track on the album thanks to a particularly powerful performance by Doro.
Lastly, I have to give a mention to the track Hero which is a surprisingly upbeat tribute to Dio and not exactly a ballad as one might expect it to be. This could have easily been slow and sappy, but Doro takes this one down a different and maybe more suitable road. There are certainly slower parts to the song, but also some pretty energized ones. The metal spirit of this one just strikes me as something Dio would have appreciated and especially from a friend. It's a very complete song with good energy, moving lyrics, and a nice vibe. Gotta hand it to Doro on making this one come to life.
Raise Your Fist as a whole is just the sort of album I like out of Doro. It rocks out with the energy and passion she has for doing just that. This is an album that could be very appealing to people who like their metal to be grounded in the roots of hard rock. 80s female fronted metal/rock comes to mind with this album's formula of rockers and ballads as does stuff like Riot (particually the Forrester era). This isn't a groundbreaking album, but it is straight up rocking done right and that's good enough for me.
Highlights: Raise Your Fist In The Air, Rock Till Death, Hero
Rating - 3.5/5
2. Coldhearted Lover
3. Rock Till Death
4. It Still Hurts
5. Take No Prisoner
6. Grab The Bull (Last Man Standing)
7. Engel
8. Freiheit (Human Rights)
9. Little Headbanger (Nackenbrecher)
10. Revenge
11. Free My Heart
12. Victory
13. Hero
Doro is just a classic in the scene and will always have a place with me as the queen of metal. Not every release she's made has been a winner, but she gives it all to her fans and has made some killer material along the way. Not to mention she is the definition of one truly Metal woman and has an amazing and unique voice. I wasn't huge on her last album, Fear No Evil, but it did grow on me to an extent and I loved it's predecessor Warrior Soul. Basically, what I was hoping for was a return to form and a cleaner sound than the last album which seemed awkward and messy at times.
After listening to Raise Your Fist I think I can pretty much sum the album up as simple, but effective. Raise Your Fist is pretty well represented by it's title as this album is all about straight up fist pumping anthems. Short and sweet tracks that are really about rocking out and have a somewhat retro feel to them. This sort of material suits Doro pretty well as she has good energy and knows how to carry this type of material, especially in a live setting. Raise Your Fist just comes off very likable and gets the head moving. Tracks like Raise Your Fist In The Air and Rock Till Death are just all about pumping you up and indeed working the crowd live. Not a bad approach at all.
Also peppered in are some slow down ballad moments which are typical of Doro. Guest appearances are also fairly common to her albums and a nice one on this release is Lemmy once again partnering up with Doro for the ballad It Still Hurts. Surprisingly mellow performance by Lemmy. I've heard him do ballads before of course, but he doesn't come off as gravelly as usual on this. Engel is also a strong ballad and my favorite slower track on the album thanks to a particularly powerful performance by Doro.
Lastly, I have to give a mention to the track Hero which is a surprisingly upbeat tribute to Dio and not exactly a ballad as one might expect it to be. This could have easily been slow and sappy, but Doro takes this one down a different and maybe more suitable road. There are certainly slower parts to the song, but also some pretty energized ones. The metal spirit of this one just strikes me as something Dio would have appreciated and especially from a friend. It's a very complete song with good energy, moving lyrics, and a nice vibe. Gotta hand it to Doro on making this one come to life.
Raise Your Fist as a whole is just the sort of album I like out of Doro. It rocks out with the energy and passion she has for doing just that. This is an album that could be very appealing to people who like their metal to be grounded in the roots of hard rock. 80s female fronted metal/rock comes to mind with this album's formula of rockers and ballads as does stuff like Riot (particually the Forrester era). This isn't a groundbreaking album, but it is straight up rocking done right and that's good enough for me.
Highlights: Raise Your Fist In The Air, Rock Till Death, Hero
Rating - 3.5/5
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