Grave Digger - Return Of The Reaper

Power Metal
Napalm Records
2014










1. Return Of The Reaper (Intro)
2. Hell Funeral
3. War God
4. Tattooed Rider
5. Resurrection Day
6. Season Of The Witch
7. Road Rage Killer
8. Grave Desecrator
9. Satan's Host
10. Dia De Los Muertos
11. Death Smiles At All Of Us
12. Nothing To Believe

Grave Digger have always been a solid power metal band, but at this point in their career I'm looking for a spark and I think maybe the band is too. I guess you could say that of late their material and their style has become kind of predictable. The fire hasn't quite been there and I think the band knows it judging by the title and assumed direction going into this one. It seems like they're trying to recapture some of their darker side in getting back to "the reaper" and the only real question is if it is going to work here.

Well, after listening to Return of the Reaper, it's no real great re-imagining of the band or a return to the routes. Sure thematically it doesn't focus on any grand concept and feels a bit more straight up metal with some dark edge, but the overall sound of the band is really not any big change. Basically, this still sounds like heavy power metal with Chris Boltendahl's typical growls and snarls and the same guitar sound the band has had forever. The songs aren't really anything super imaginative and the kind of return to a more intensely dark vibe like on The Grave Digger that I was hoping for doesn't really happen.

That being said this is still Grave Digger and it's a pretty competent album. Just don't really expect any sort of grand rebirth. There are solid highlights though and overall the album is pleasing enough to me as a fan. I think the best tracks here tend to be when the band gets a good pounding rhythm and catchy groove going. The speedier tracks tend to be a bit typical, but when they settle into a good mid-paced heavy roll with some atmosphere like on Season of the Witch the band can still get my attention. Grave Desecreator is also a highlight and another kind of groove driven one, but more upbeat with a nice shout along chorus. Dia De Los Muertos is also noteworthy for it's pounding heaviness.

Overall, this is not a new classic for Grave Digger, but it is a pretty good album for the fans who are still hanging with the band. I don't think this is an incredibly creative or different album and not the kind to enter many album of the year discussions, but it's a solid listening experience in a familiar vein. If you like Grave Digger I'd say it's worth a listen. Not their best album, but not half bad either.

Highlights: Season of the Witch, Grave Desecreator, Dia De Los Muertos

Rating - 3.5/5

Grave Digger - Clash Of The Gods

Power Metal
Napalm

2012

1. Charon (Fahrmann Des Todes)
2. God Of Terror
3. Hell Dog
4. Medusa
5. Clash Of The Gods
6. Death Angel & The Grave Digger
7. Walls Of Sorrow
8. Call Of The Sirens
9. Warriors Revenge
10. ...With The Wind
11. Home At Last

Grave Digger are one of those bands who are quickly becoming more known for what they have done than what they are doing. That's not to say I haven't enjoyed some of their more recent albums. There have been good moments in their recent production, but it has started to become very familiar/predictable. I guess that's why I find myself going into this one not sure how excited I am. Their more recent albums haven't aged with me as well as classics like Tunes Of War, Excalibur, etc.

With Clash Of The Gods what I expected is pretty much what I got. Straight forward, heavy German power metal with some dark atmosphere sprinkled in. There's something to be said for being steady, but at this point it really is getting stagnant/predictable. The material here isn't bad, but like I said earlier... I'm having a hard time getting excited by this. I mean if I want to listen to material like this I do have other Grave Digger albums that are essentially interchangeable. What is there to make me run out and buy this one for myself?

Some of what I'm writing here even seems familiar as I said some of the same things with the last album, but it still applies pretty well here. The sound is good, the band comes off heavy and aggressive, but there's not really any new ideas. It's basically the last couple of Grave Digger albums with a different central theme which as usual is rooted in mythology or history. If you've heard a Grave Digger album since Tunes Of War you probably can imagine what this sounds like.

Yeah that's all I've got. It sounds like Grave Digger and the band still has a good sound, but there's just nothing special about this. It's not so much that this is worse than the past couple albums as it is the same album in essence and it has worn thin. The ratings over the past couple albums I've rated show a progressive slide and it's because I just can't justify rating an utter lack of creativity that highly any more. Grave Digger are in desperate need of something to shake up their sound.

Yeah that's all I've got. It sounds like Grave Digger and the band still has a good sound, but there's just nothing special about this. It's not so much that this is worse than the past couple albums as it is the same album in essence and it has worn thin. The ratings over the past couple albums I've rated show a progressive slide and it's because I just can't justify rating an utter lack of creativity that highly any more. Grave Digger are in desperate need of something to shake up their sound.
Highlights: Walls Of Sorrow, God Of Terror

Rating - 3.0/5

Grave Digger - The Clans Will Rise Again

Power Metal
Napalm Records

2010

1. Days Of Revenge
2. Paid In Blood
3. Hammer Of The Scots
4. Highland Farewell
5. The Clans Will Rise Again
6. Rebels
7. Valley Of Tears
8. Execution
9. Whom The Gods Love Die Young
10. Spider
11. The Piper Mcleod
12. Coming Home
13. When Rain Turns To Blood

Another year, another Grave Digger album. The Clans Will Rise follows fairly quickly on the heels of it's predecessor which came out only last year. The last album was fairly typical of Grave Digger and there hasn't really been much in the way of shakeups in their albums lately, but it did have some good songs. I suppose that's about what my hopes for this album were going in. It's probably not realistic to expect Grave Digger to reinvent the wheel.

Well, what I expected was more or less what I got out of this album. The Clans Will Rise again isn't anything I could get too excited about, but it's nothing I didn't like either. The signature Grave Digger guitar sound and riffs are here, almost to a fault. Really I would love if they tried revisiting something like The Grave Digger again and whipped up some dark atmospheres for me, but this isn't bad either.

This album is just typical of Grave Digger for better or worse really. It's obvious this album does try to revisit Tunes Of War a bit, but is not as raw as that album which had Boltendahl squealing, etc. One might think that's actually an improvement, but it isn't really as this one doesn't have the songwriting hits of that one or the fire and sense of covering new ground. Remember, when the first one came out the whole epic history thing was new to Grave Digger and it sounded like a band branching out. This more sounds like a band trying to recapture past glory. I just don't think Grave Digger is going to make an Impressive album covering old ground. A decent one sure, but very predictable.

In conclusion, if you're a Grave Digger fan who can deal with the band being extremely formulaic than this is a good enough listen. It is a bit lacking in those Really memorable live catalogue additions, but it isn't half bad either. There's certainly no Rebellion here, but Hammer Of The Scots is pretty headbangable and Highland Farewell sounds kinda epic. Pain in Blood is a pretty decent straight ahead track as well. Plenty to call good... just nothing to call classic.

Highlights: Hammer Of The Scots, Highland Farewell, Paid In Blood

Rating - 3.5/5

Grave Digger - Ballads Of A Hangman

Power Metal
Napalm Records

2009

1. The Gallows Pole (Intro)
2. Ballad of a Hangman
3. Hell of Disillusion
4. Sorrow of the Dead
5. Grave of the Addicted
6. Lonely the Innocence Dies
7. Into the War
8. The Shadow of Your Soul
9. Funeral for a Fallen Angel
10. Stormrider
11. Pray

Grave Digger were an early favorite of mine and still rank among my top bands, even if they didn't deliver all I'd hoped for on the last album, Libery Or Death. With a new Grave Digger release always comes the hope they can match the sheer awesomeness of albums like The Grave Digger, Excalibur, or Tunes Of War again. Hell, I'd take another Rheingold and it's not as though Liberty Or Death was a total flop.

Ballad Of A Hangman starts off the album in familiar fashion with a by the numbers sort of Grave Digger song after a typical short intro setup. The chorus is simple with just shouts of 'hangman', but all in all I like the song as it has good energy and a sound that most closely resembles Excalibur or Tunes to my ears. Lyrically and thematically I'd say Ballads Of A Hangman certainly follows the darker side of Grave Digger, but the music is what brings the fantasy/medieval era to mind. Hell of Disillusion, Sorrow of the Dead, and Grave Of The Addicted are likewise familiar, but once again I just plain like these tracks and good songs are good songs. There are some darker hints musically in Sorrow Of The Dead with it's melodic chorus and Grave Of The Addicted.

Lonely The Innocence Dies is where the album pulls a 180 and breaks the mold however as the music becomes somber and slowed and clean singing comes out of nowhere courtesy of Veronica Freeman of Benedictum. The atmosphere infused in this track is unreal and the combo of these two singers is like they were made for each other. Very dark, evil, and excellent making for the high point of the disc. After this track things more or less settle back into a familiar Grave Digger mold until the other surprise of the album, Pray which has some interesting riffing and structure which makes it sound more like a big arena rock anthem than a big epic power song. It totally works here though and all I can say is this song rocks big time. Seriously great build to a fist pumping chorus that will find this track a home next to Lonely The Innocence Dies in my new favorite Grave Digger songs. One final shout out before I close this atypical semi track by track would be to Stormrider which while familiar Grave Digger is a great representation of them with a lot of power.

At times Ballads Of A Hangman may be familiar, but when it is they do it well and when it isn't the band surprises me with some fresh song ideas that work superbly. This is a pleasing experience with a good breath of fresh air that doesn't take away from what Grave Digger's sound has been over the years. Maybe not all the songs grab me hard, but there's no weak point either and some highlights to boast.

Highlights: Lonely The Innocence Dies, Pray, Stormrider, Ballad Of A Hangman

Rating - 4.0/5

Grave Digger - Liberty Or Death

Power Metal
Locomotive
2007

1. Liberty Or Death
2. Ocean of Blood
3. Highland Tears
4. The Terrible One
5. Until The Last King Died
6. March Of The Innocent
7. Silent Revolution
8. Shadowland
9. Forecourt To Hell
10. Massada

Grave Digger follow fairly quickly on the heels of The Last Supper here with their new album, Liberty Or Death. In many ways, Grave Digger is a band which people know they can depend on. Every 1 or 2 years there's a new Grave Digger album to be had and you more or less know what to expect of it. But there in may lie the problem...

It seems to me that Grave Digger has become a one trick pony and it becomes more and more painfully evident with each release. On this album what you could guess what you hear... familiar heavy german power riffs with the same sound as ever, gruff vocals building to an epic chorus, etc. Really any song on here could've been squeezed into one or the other Grave Digger album (minus theme as they almost always have a concept lyrically). Lyrically I didn't pick up on any real concept in this release, but then I don't have the lyrics in front of me so maybe I'm just missing it. I did hear a basic theme or freedom, revolution, etc and it matches the title of the release. In terms of the guitar it's just so familiar and there's no real hooks, technicality, or strong solos to keep me interested in the songs. I think some improvement in the guitar department of Grave Digger would go a long way.

Listening to Liberty Or Death I just didn't hear anything that made me go 'this song will make an excellent addition to the Grave Digger catalogue'. More or less I just got the impression that 'yup... this sounds like Grave Digger'. It just seems the band's sound needs a serious breath of fresh air. I can only listen to the same album with a different title so many times before I wonder why I don't just listen to the older stuff. As I mentioned before, Grave Digger do put out an album every 1 or 2 years like clockwork and it shows in the music. To me it seems like Grave Digger just put out a new album to have one out at this point. A serious case of quantity over quality and perhaps a little time off is what the band needs. I'd be more than willing to wait a few years if it would mean more interesting songwriting from the band.

In conclusion, if you're a big Grave Digger fan then this will probably be satisfying enough... unless you're just getting bored with it like me. I found this release adequate but little more than that. This is one of those releases I'd recommend if you feel like you need a safe choice or just need everything by the band. If you still have other holes in your Grave Digger collection... get those first. If you have no Grave Digger yet... get Excalibur, Tunes Of War, or The Grave Digger and thank me later.

Highlights: Liberty Or Death, Oceans Of Blood, Silent Revolution

Rating - 3.0/5

Grave Digger - The Last Supper

Power Metal
Nuclear Blast
2005

1. Passion
2. The Last Supper
3. Desert Rose
4. Grave In The No Man's Land
5. Hell To Pay
6. Soul Savior
7. Crucified
8. Divided Cross
9. Night Before
10. Black Widows
11. Hundred Days
12. Always And Eternally

The first thing that struck me when I listened to this album is the somewhat moody nature of it. At first this made me a little nervous with the Knights Of The Cross reminders, but this album is just written and produced far better. Not as over the top as Rheingold, it still has a certain theatrical quality to the choruses. A little less bombast, but more memorable overall as the one word choruses of the last album are put aside. Though The Last Supper does have a certain moody Knights atmosphere, on a track by track basis this release covers the spectrum of Grave Digger's styles really. For example, Hell To Pay's direct speed could have been from Excalibur and Grave In The No Man's land has a dark atmosphere and crunch that could've been on The Grave Digger. A good mix of rippers, mid-paced, and a traditional GD ballad, this should please fans.

Highlights: Grave In The No Man's Land, The Last Supper, Divided Cross

Rating - 3.5/5