Yes, one can argue about whether the new Doro album »Raise Your Fist« is an anniversary album or not, for the singer from Düsseldorf, Germany celebrated her 30th on-stage jubilee a year after its release. Then again, her 17th record was in the focus of the subsequent world tour that went over into the next year.

However, there’s nothing to argue about the quality of the new record – that’s certain at least since the release of the 4-track-EP »Raise Your Fist In The Air«: All songs are strong beyond any doubt and keep up the musical legacy of the WARLOCK classic »Hellbound« once more.

It was this very sophomore release »Hellbound« of 1985 (being the follow-up to previous year’s debut »Burning The Witches«) that showcased Doro Pesch and her band mates achieving something only very few rockers and heavy metallers in Germany had accomplished back then: drawing the focus from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal to “Teutonic Metal”. It was not for nothing that the German newcomers offhandedly performed as special guests for legends such as Judas Priest, Dio and W.A.S.P. and got the chance to compete with bands like Metallica, Venom and the Pretty Maids at the “Metal Hammer Festival” in 1986. At the legendary “Monsters of Rock” festival in 1986, Doro Pesch even entered the stage of this British mega-event as the first woman ever to play to 120.000 fans.

The kick-off of Doro’s solo career went ahead equally fast from 1989 on. Every single album that was released since the turn of the millennium made it into the Top-30 of the German album charts – the last output »Fear No Evil« even entered rank 11. Apart from that, Doro also appeared as an actress in the movie »Anuk« (2006) by director Luke Gasser, and its sequel.

In celebration of her 25th stage anniversary at the ISS Dome, Düsseldorf on the 13th of December 2008, the blonde singer paid homage to no less than Klaus Meine & Rudolf Schenker (Scorpions), Tarja Turunen (ex-Nightwish), Liv Kristine (Leaves’ Eyes), Sabina Classen (Holy Moses), Bobby Ellsworth (Overkill), Axel Rudi Pell and many other big names of the metal and rock scene in front of 9000 fans. During the 2010 European tour of Motörhead, Doro and her band not only performed as an opening act for the British legends – Doro also got on stage for a duet with Lemmy Kilmister on `Born To Raise Hell´. An honour that not many metal musicians have had!

When considering the evergreen spirit of the songs, there’s no doubt that »Raise Your Fist« continues this success story. Take for example the title track of the album (and of the EP), that immediately encourages to rock along and bears the potential to replace `All We Are´ as Doro’s trademark song. And also the energetic speedster ‘Take No Prisoner’ as well as the double bass anthem ‘Revenge’ have a similar impact on your desire for head banging.

‘Coldhearted Lover’ and ‘Rock Till Death’ brim over with arena rock appeal, while the sensitive and epic but at the same time powerful track ‘It Still Hurts’ scores big time on an emotional level – not only because of the terrific duet with Motörhead’s Lemmy. The same applies to the German song ‘Engel’, which is preluded by magnificent dreamy piano/synthesizer sequences and that stages Doro’s expressional voice perfectly.

Due to its swinging groove, ‘Freiheit (Human Rights)’ adds a refreshing facet to the overall appearance of »Raise Your Fist«. The same is true for the slightly Kyuss-meets-Aerosmith-like ‘Victory’ and for the concluding track ‘Hero’ with its magical atmosphere and gloomy Black Sabbath flair – dedicated to the legendary Ronnie James Dio who sadly passed away two years ago and the first song that Doro wrote for this album. Not forgetting the stoically marching mid-tempo song ‘Grab The Bulls By The Horns’ that features some licks by no less a figure than Ozzy Osbourne’s current guitarist Gus G. and underlines the high song writing level of the record perfectly.

All in all: The incredible dynamics, compositional diversity (on this part, Doro worked again with US song writing genius Joey Balin, with whom she had composed songs for CDs such as »Triumph & Agony« and »Force Majeure« among others) and the richness of detail make »Raise Your Fist« an album that can even satisfy the demands of the most demanding connoisseurs of music. All this makes »Raise Your Fist« Doro’s greatest work ever – a worthy anniversary album through and through.