Pop Capsules : Warlock: Blonde Beauty Rules the Metal Beast

Warlock’s singer, Doro Pesch, is a small, pretty blonde with a winning smile. The band surrounding her is a forceful, fist-pumping unit. But Saturday night’s Perkins Palace show proved that this beauty rules the metal beast.

The New York-based German-American quintet has more thrust in a live situation than it does on its latest LP, “Triumph and Agony,” and the petite Pesch didn’t need gimmicks to grab the spotlight. Her vocals are harsh and compelling, but she’s not a tough cookie with a bad attitude. Nor is she a sexpot who displays loads of cleavage. Pesch’s sexuality shines through in her enthusiasm for powerful music. She commanded attention during anthems such as “All We Are,” but her vulnerability came out on the ballad, “Fur Immer,” sung in German. This openness added humanity to Warlock’s heaviness.

Even though this show drew poorly, the band performed with a strength that inspired the small crowd to demand two encores. Warlock may not be at metal’s forefront yet, but even at this early stage of their career, these head bangers personify the best of what the form has to offer--high energy and passion, with no extra frills.