DORO PESCH Says She Never Felt Different Being A Woman In Heavy Metal

In a brand new interview with the Phoenix New Times, German metal queen Doro Pesch was asked if she could recall a memory when she first realized that the industry was embracing more females in heavy metal.

"I love music and I loved the fans right from the start," she responded. "I had a great connection to the art and to the fans. To me, in metal, it doesn't matter if you're a woman or man; music isn't about that. So I never felt like I got negative feedback or feelings. I was just Doro! Everyone was so supportive, especially my other musicians or bands on tours, whether it was the legendary JUDAS PRIEST or the greatly loved and missed Ronnie James Dio and W.A.S.P. — we just had so many excellent tours and everyone was so nice and respectful."

She continued: "In the industry, it was always cool and I never felt different. I just know in the media and in magazines, they were writing things like, 'one of the few women of heavy metal,' but, to me, honestly... I think people knew I was deadly serious and dedicated, so people maybe didn't question it."

Doro added: "People might've thought it was crazy or different, a woman in heavy metal, but I never felt different. I think it was more, um, you had to fight more for your music; you had to fight more to do heavy metal. Because in the beginning with metal, it was accepted as a whole. So you had to really work your ass off, work 10 times more, to make other people feel like metal is something really beautiful. So, as a metalhead, I had more issues in the beginning just having people accept metal in general. [Laughs] Yeah, yeah! Metal has so much power and soul. It's about fighting for your music; to fight for heavy metal. That was way more difficult than fighting to be a woman in the genre."

Doro recently told Metal Life magazine about when fans can expect to hear the follow-up to her 2012 album "Raise Your Fist": "We're in the middle of songwriting. We've got some great, ass-kicking ideas already. And we are doing the production for the DVD — it's the 30th-anniversary DVD, and we filmed all over the world. We started with Wacken, which looks awesome, and then we did a couple of things in my hometown, in Germany, in Düsseldorf, and in New York. And it will come out in autumn, and it will be a big package — like, two DVDs and one live album. Many more months it will probably take to do a new album, but songwriting is already going really great. And it probably takes another year to have a brand new album. But the DVD is coming out first… Good things always take longer than expected, and sometimes I wanna do it fast, and then two years go by, and I say, 'Wow!'"

Dubbed "50 minutes of expertly crafted Teutonic metal" by Outburn, which crowned Doro "...the classiest lady in metal," "Raise Your Fist" boasted guest appearances by MOTÖRHEAD's Lemmy Kilmister and OZZY OSBOURNE/FIREWIND guitarist Gus G., and artwork by British artist and longtime Doro collaborator Geoffrey Gillespie. An import version of Doro's "Raise Your Fist - 30 Years Anniversary Edition" is available via the Nuclear Blast webshop and includes new and rare tracks plus a bonus CD titled "Powerful Passionate Favorites" comprised of cover versions of DIO, LED ZEPPELIN, METALLICA and KISS songs.