Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Grave Digger
Label: Napalm Records
Released: 2012
Running time: 29:00
Rating: 3/5
In their new lineup, without Manni Schmidt and with new recruit Axel Ritt, Grave Digger have shown precious little fresh songwriting inspiration to this day. Their sequel to the classic »Tunes Of War« (1996), i.e. part two, called »The Clans Will Rise Again« (2010), did nothing but stir up a burning wish in the listener to go back to the golden age of Grave Digger in the second half of the nineties, because the record is bursting at the seams with a lack of inspiration and any lived-in feel.
The band won’t admit this even in their dreams. Maybe they don’t even realize the golden age is over. But ever-thinner crowds at their shows mean they can’t really headline their own tours anymore, so Grave Digger end up hitching a ride on the tour of a band that’s hot right now, but will never manage to put out albums as striking as the ones Grave Digger made from »The Reaper« (1993) up to and including »The Grave Digger« (2001). I’m thinking of the last Sabaton tour, where Grave Digger opened the shows.
Still, Boltendahl isn’t giving in, and says he’ll set ancient Greek mythology to music too. Judging by the covers and titles of the upcoming album and this EP, that’s how it looks. »Home At Last«, with the Grave Digger mascot »Reraper« dressed up as a Greek hoplite who’s just unhitched from his galley in a creepy storm, could easily be Odysseus finally returning to his native Ithaca after years of ordeal. The old man drawn beside him, like the warning spirit of the dead, could be his late father, the Ithacan king Laertes, who died while his son was away. Well, let’s wait for the album »Clash Of The Gods« to come out, which will reveal more concretely the series of little stories being cooked up by the tireless uncle Chris Boltendahl.
More than as a teaser single for the new album, this EP is interesting for its two extra tracks, which won’t make it onto the album. Obviously both are leftovers, what remained after Grave Digger had written enough material for the new album and were forced to cut certain songs from it. Both are typical Teutonic bashers. In other words, a straight-ahead guitar riff, the trademark Boletndhal growl that just won’t rust, and an ultra-wound-up rhythmic gallop where the double bass drum pedal has to dig in full tilt. This time, though, unlike on the production of »The Clans Will Rise Again«, the feeling prevails that we’re getting an album that leans into bombast again, since the riffs are sunk a bit deeper into a coat of symphonic-orchestral arrangements. Yes. A feel closer to »Rheingold (2003)« and »Liberty Or Death« (2007). That feeling is deepened by the pronounced anthemic singalong choruses on all three of the EP’s new songs. Even though Home At Last grabs the attention here, Metal Will Never Die almost steals it, since that song counts as a kind of unofficial anthem of the mecca of all metal festivals, Wacken Open Air.
The rest of the EP is a live recap of the last three numbers of the band’s Wacken Open Air 2010 set. Those already came out on the DVD »The Clans Are Still Marching« (2011), and anyone among you who got hold of the DVD/CD version won’t be all that thrilled to realize they’re listening to something they’ve already heard.
That said, this live trio is a good indicator of the band’s form, especially Axel Ritt’s. He’s evidently on the rise and breaking free of the shackles he was thrown into after stepping into Manni Schmidt’s big boots. The guy is getting better and better, while Boltendahl has to adapt his lines quite a bit to somehow pull them off (Excalibur). That Ritt is growing in confidence and developing into a real Grave Digger member is shown most of all by the first three songs of the EP, which sound far more convincing and inspired than anything from the threadbare »The Clans Will Rise Again«! Both in terms of ideas, as far as the lead guitar phrases go, and in the details, when we focus on the guitar solos and extra guitar ornaments. Ritt is not Manni Schmidt, and it’s not fair to ask that of him either. All that matters is that he manages to carve out enough room to »subtly trick« uncle Boltendahl and add a little bit of himself to all this typical Grave Digger engraving.
So, a »YES« for the new EP. It’s worth checking out, and fans of the band will be rewarded most of all by the two tracks that won’t come out anywhere else (maybe on some live release down the road). The rest of us can at least partly breathe a sigh of relief, because »The Clash Of The Gods« will evidently be the real deal, a proper traditional Grave Digger album again. Just sharp enough, just rousing enough and just bombastic enough to put Grave Digger back on their old tracks, which this cult German Teutonic heavy metal old-school outfit undoubtedly deserves.
Lineup
Chris Boltendahl – vocals, backing vocals
Axel Ritt – guitar, backing vocals
H.P. Katzenburg – keyboards
Jens Becker – bass
Stefan Arnold – drums
Production
Chris Boltendahl & Grave Digger
Track list
1. Home At Last
2. Rage Fo The Savage Beast
3. Metal Will Never Die
4. Ballad Of A Hangman (live)
5. Excalibur (live)
6. Heavy Metal Breakdown (live)
