HARDWARES

Seems my gripes have been answered, complaining about the formulaic nature of the last couple of Ms. Pesch’s efforts: mid-tempo track, full-blown ballad, power ballad, song sung in German, repeat. Amongst the baker’s dozen included on the new album (including a pair of guest appearances), there are no less than four fast/heavy numbers and both the opening title cut and ‘Victory’ have an electronic/industrial tinge, similar to Machine II Machine (’95). ‘Rock Til Death’ is one of those quick hitters. There’s a similar urgency in the aptly named ‘Take No Prisoner.’ There’s a loose, punky quality about ‘Little Headbanger (Nachenbrech)’, but the best is the Teutonic train (clickety-clack) of ‘Revenge’. I vote now for this one to kick-off future live shows! This time around there’s also a trio of Deutsche tongued lyrics (in part, or entirely), including the synthesized orchestral strings accompanied ‘Freiheit (Human Rights)’. The acoustic begun ‘Hero’ (dedicated to Ronnie James Dio) closes things out, gradually building as it goes, before ultimately ending much as it started. The much ballyhooed guests fall flat. While OZZY/FIREWIND guitarist Gus G. is otherwise unrecognizable on ‘Grab The Bull (Last Man Standing)’, the ‘It Still Hurts’ ballad with MOTÖRHEAD mastermind/bassist Lemmy (long a Doro supporter) is painful, mostly down to his spoken monotone delivery. Tour dates for Feb 2013 have already been announced, hoping a few of these newbies make it into the set.