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I've often mentioned albums throwing the listener back in time to the 80s. Fear No Evil sure fits that description – that is, if you think of commercial, sing-along anthemic Heavy Metal. Lots of hymns to metal and rock here, with Doro's vocals leading the charge with the instruments trailing along to create a very upbeat, very invigorating album that can brighten even the darkest of days.

I'm haven't heard much of Doro's work in recent years, but sure thing is that her voice is still in top shape – from very soft, melodious vocals all the way to high-pitched screams that could shake an arena, she delivers the goods – on the very poignant ballad "Herzblut" she offers a very good performance in her native German, while on the other songs she sticks to English. The vocals are so predominant here that the music almost takes the second stage. Not much in terms of musicians showing off, though of course you still get a little guitar solo here and there and there's still a good dose of crunchy yet melodic shredding going on here. Vocals and instruments meld very well throughout the album, with nothing sounding out of place – a practically perfect flow of music.

What I have a hard time with is that on many songs the lyrics are repeated way too often – sometimes to the point of annoyance. Maybe that can work alright in a sing-along live setting, but on disc, you really have to be in the mood for this – but of course, Doro's top-notch vocals do help alleviate the burden a little. Also, while "25 Years" is a pretty good slow and emotional song, using it as the album closer definitely wasn't the best idea – I got a feeling of "unfinished business" every time the album was over.

With killer vocals, matching melodic metal and a good balance of rock and ballads, Fear No Evil is hard to resist if you're at all into some no-bull, straight up melodic, anthemic Heavy Metal.