With Doro Pesch releasing her new album Warriors Of The Sea today, MetalTalk’s Paul Hutchings caught up with the Metal Queen to talk about the Blue Curaçao liquid-filled vinyl and all things Metal. Here is Part Two. You can read Part One here.
The track Warriors Of The Sea is a classic in the anthemic style that Doro writes so well. There is also a German sung track called Seelied on the album, which leads us to discuss singing in her native tongue.
“I think I have now, let’s say, 22 records,” Doro Pesch says. “So, I think on five or six records I did something in German. There’s one German record out there, because people said, do one thing all in German. That’s called Für Immer, which means forever. That was the most successful vinyl I’ve ever done. I thought nobody would be interested, especially in other countries, but they liked it.”
“When I sing these songs [in German], they’re always soulful or emotional or something. Sometimes I do different versions in French, Portuguese, Spanish, or English, of course. But some German songs do not translate into English because of the original vibe, the original feel.
“For example, the song Herzblut is a German song. It means the blood of your heart when you do something passionate. There’s not a word in English. So certain things, then I say, okay, I will leave it alone.
“But I always like English, of course. I’m not a native speaker, so in the beginning, that was hard. It was so crazy. We did some lyrics. They make no sense, and then when I first played in England, people were asking me what I was singing about. I tried to explain it, and people were laughing. It was totally different from what we thought, and it was hilarious.”
“One example was Red Light Star,” Doro says. “I never knew what it really meant. People were asking me. I said, how it feels to be on stage with all the lights and stuff. And they said, Red Light Star…Red Light District, that’s where the prostitutes go. I had no idea. So, it was funny. In the ’80s, it was really funny.
“Now you can always find out. With Google, it’s easy. But back in the day, that wasn’t so easy. But it was fun. But I always meant well, let’s put it that way.”
We both agree that the joy of being a fan of Metal is you have the option to go deep or just stay very much on the surface, singing along without getting immersed in everything. “Yes, I think both ways are great,” Doro Pesch says. “Sometimes I like it deep and intense, very soulful, very spiritual, like when it touches your heart and soul, when you can really get something great out of it.
“And sometimes it’s just fun. For example, All We Are, was one of the most successful songs. But it has a good message that we’re all in it together. We are all we need. Then a nice video. We filmed it in LA, in the LA River Basin, where Terminator 2 was filmed. It has that great rock Metal energy, and I still love to sing it every gig.”
All We Are opens 1987’s Triumph And Agony album, something I gave a spin to prior to the interview. Doro could not have imagined when she wrote it that she would end up singing it at every show since.
“No, every show, every show,” she says. “There’s not one show without All We Are, except when I sang at a wedding, where people always like Für Immer. When I have only one song to sing, then I sing Für Immer because it’s a song where people like to fall in love or get married or whatever.
“But All We Are, yeah. We had no idea. But the first time we played it live, you could tell, wow, there was something going on. My first time playing All We Are live was on tour with Ronnie James Dio in ’87. We played many songs, but with All We Are you could feel it was a hit. I still love these two songs, and they mean a lot to me.
“It’s so much fun, and they mean a lot to people, too. In this day and age when times are tough, it’s great to know that everybody can just scream and jump around to it. A feel-good moment.”
Warriors Of The Sea is a kind of bridging album which follows Conqueress. Is there a new album in the pipeline? Doro Pesch tells me more.
“Actually, I have some ideas, some demos, and some new ideas in the making,” she says. “We didn’t record anything yet, but I wrote some nice songs. Then we want to finish the DVD because I celebrated it big in Germany, in Wacken, the big Metal festival at my former hometown, Düsseldorf.
“There were many, many guests there, like Joey Belladonna of Anthrax, and Mickey Dee of Motõrhead, now Scorpions, Phil Campbell, and Alissa White-Gluz of Arch Enemy. We’re still working on this DVD, Blu-ray, or maybe it will be out as a stream. I don’t know. I must talk to the record company because everybody is into the digital stuff. So, we will see.
“But we’re working on it. There were like, two and a half, three-hour shows, so there’s lots of stuff to do. So that would be out first and then a new album and then another tour, yes.”
It’s what Doro Pesch does. She makes music, she tours it. Her life is devoted to it, and over 40 years since she started, there is no sign of her slowing.
She points at a poster of Lemmy as we say our goodbyes. “Same as Lemmy here. You see, I do it until the day I die. I have the best role models, you know.”
Doro Pesch releases Warriors Of The Sea on 24 October 2025 via Rare Diamonds. For more details, visit linktr.ee/dorometalqueen. Part One of this interview can be read here.
