Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Grave Digger
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release: 2003
Rating: 3/5
The story of the Ring of the Nibelung goes something like this. Three water nymphs guard a hoard of gold at the bottom of the river Rhine (Rhine gold). Only from this gold can the magical ring at the center of the tale be forged. A cunning, wicked and, even worse, downright ugly dwarf tricks the water nymphs, full of girlish naivety, to whom Wotan had entrusted the secret of the Rhine, and makes off with the ring to who knows where (Rheingold). Thunder god Wotan, in a foul mood, stomps his feet angrily atop Asgard, because the ring’s power is the only road to the immortality he craves and to the creation of Valhalla. The king of the gods knows the power the ugly dwarf has gained, so he swipes the ring with a trick of his own and entrusts it to two giants (brothers) to look after (Giants). But the ring carries the dwarf’s curse, which blinds both giants. Brotherly blood is spilled when they can’t agree on how to split the treasure. The killer turns into a dragon (cover artist M. Mayer thought of this detail too and gave the dragon a human expression on its face). Now the fearless hero Siegfried steps in (Sword) to do the gods’ bidding and finally put things right. The dragon is thus slain with a fearless swing of Siegfried’s sword (Dragon). Siegfried takes the ring from the poor wretch and, while he’s at it, finishes off the dwarf in self-defense, who had only been trying to use Siegfried to get to the ring (ah, apparently dwarfs are nothing but trouble this time around). The hero’s agony follows (Liar and the song Murderer), and, treacherously murdered, he curses Valhalla and the gods, so that his words turn everything into a roaring inferno (Twilight Of The Gods) from which a new Valhalla rises (the Germanic tribes were among the few who believed their gods were mortal). Together with Valhalla, new gods are born, who will create a new world.
If “The Grave Digger” was a raw, white-hot manifestation of the purest-blooded German metal, with “Rheingold” the gravediggers bring more epic and symphonic flavor back into their sound. In a way, the new record is a return to “Excalibur” from 1999.
In writing ambitious orchestral arrangements, Grave Digger have squeezed out their most symphonic work to date, without taking anything away from the band’s trademark in-your-face aggression and punch. What I personally appreciate most about Grave Digger is their outstanding talent for picking excellent scripts and direction when turning chosen concepts into songs. Once again, with “Rheingold” they’ve done more than a masterful job. Few bands are this convincing at bringing a script to life. The enraged, half-crazed vocals in the pre-choruses are wrapped in superb layered backing vocal harmonies in the choruses. Grave Digger paid special attention to the middle sections, which turn the mood on its head in a dizzying way. The orchestral arrangements take center stage here, Chris’s “clean” vocals (when he goes for them) are more expressive in them, and Manni lays matching solos into these parts with the greatest care. On “The Grave Digger”, and back when he was still in Rage, he mostly tore down the fretboard unstoppably, but this time he has delicately put together solos that are epic in shape. An ardently epic Manni has thus contributed a big share to the high atmospheric mood of the songs! One of the best examples is Maidens Of War, where Manni closes his solo with a transition adapted to the song, taken from Wagner’s romantic opera, or rather tetralogy, The Ring of the Nibelung, referring to its third part called Valkyrie (Valkyrie: a companion of the gods, either on military campaigns or, after their death, on the way to Valhalla). So a heap of different climaxes will keep sending chills down your spine, and the voltage of classic riff choices taken from the Grave Digger bible will split even the hardest metal skull. The songs follow one after another, blow after blow. No ballads! The songs range from relentless sped-up smashers (Rheingold, Giants, Liar) to mid-tempo ones (Sword, Murderer, Twilight Of Gods, Maidens Of War), which are the atmospheric peaks. Wherever the drama thickens and things need to sound wicked or sad, Grave Digger really do sound that way.
A new Grave Digger classic is born! Grave Digger fans, you absolutely have to get the limited edition, because the bonus tracks Hero and Goodbye are actually lost stories and relate directly to the tale of the Ring of the Nibelung. Hero in particular is a fantastic mid-tempo song nicely seasoned with acoustic passages and phenomenal orchestrations.
Lineup
Chris Boltendahl – vocals
Manni Schmidt – guitar
Jens Becker – bass
H.P. Katzenburg – keyboards
Stefan Arnold – drums
Track list
1.The Ring
2.Rheingold
3.Valhalla
4.Giants
5.Maidens Of War
6.Sword
7.Dragon
8.Liar
9.Murderer
10.Twilight Of The Gods
BONUS TRACKS ON THE SPECIAL EDITION:
11.Hero
12.Goodbye
Album length:55:11
