Calling the Wild

by Gary HillDoro Pesch fronted the German metal band Warlock in the 1980s. That band no longer exists, but Doro has kept her career and passion for heavy metal alive through the years. Calling the Wild represents a return to the U.S. for Pesch, but she never quit releasing albums in Europe. This is a great album that combines elements of the older metal sound of Warlock with more modern metal and other genres. It is, however, Pesch's voice that carries the album. She can scream with the best of the metal guys (at times sounding a bit like WASP's Blackie Lawless) or get quiet and beautiful. She can also cover all the ground in between those two extremes. The disc features several guests, including Lemmy (Motorhead, Hawkwind), Al Pitrelli (Megadeath), Eric Singer (Alice Cooper, Kiss), and Slash (Guns and Roses). All but two tracks are originals. The two covers are Idol's "White Wedding" and Motorhead's "Love Me Forever." The latter is one of the two tracks that Lemmy makes his appearance on.