Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Grave Digger
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release: 2007
Length: 61:51
Rating: 4/5
The new Grave Digger album. Not again… Holy cow, time flies, or maybe Grave Digger really are just cranking out records at lightning speed. Legends and one of the founders of the German Teutonic classic heavy metal school, they’re slowly becoming one of the oldest and most seasoned bands in Germany. True wizards and “old-timers”!
And here’s another new album. And a concept, the way you’d expect from Grave Digger? Where is it? This time there’s no proper concept. The twist is that the whole record carries a red thread that ties the songs together. Each track tells a self-contained story about people fighting for freedom and how many dead it takes to get there. From there it’s not far to the big picture the listener can build about the basic madness of the human race, this wretched human era!
Grave Digger are known for their exceptional knack for building a high-drama atmosphere, and the albums from “Reaper” (1993) onward have stayed faithful to that. They simply know how to do it! This time they open the album with Bach-style organ that soon melts into a gorgeous, melancholic mid-tempo melody, with keyboards adding a special touch that masterfully dress up (of course, how else?) a classic Grave Digger riff and give the song, and the album, a mighty epic feel right from the very start. The lyrical themes once again deal with battles, bloodshed, assassinations of kings, slaughter in Roman arenas, in the streets, in palaces and everywhere a killer’s hand can reach, so historical journeys from the rabble-rouser Mahatma Gandhi (Silent Revolution) to Moses, the savior of the Jews (Ocean Of Blood), the storm of war for Greek independence in 1821 (the title track), the far too hot-headed Ivan the Terrible (The Terrible One), sport killers – Roman gladiators (Forecourt to Hell) and an interesting Arabic legend (Massada). Simply the verses that underlie the music of Grave Digger
Probably precisely because of its chosen historical war themes, “Liberty Or Death” pulls back toward the golden period that ran from 1993 (“Reaper”) to 1999 (“Excalibur”), more than any of the other post-Lulis era albums. The new album is recognizably obscure and cold, and while listening you can easily feel the icy blade of a traitor’s knife at your throat, and the sensation of the fatal drop of the guillotine reaching your ears isn’t far off either. The album does follow the modern Grave Digger direction of “The Last Supper” (2005), but of the last four studio albums it harks back to the nineties most successfully, specifically to “Heart Of Darkness” (1995) and “Tunes Of War” (1996) – what would Grave Digger even do without the storms of war.
The production is classically raw and live. Riffs pushed way up front, the rhythm line steadily cannon-like, the bass deeply pulsing. Center stage is once again Boltendahl’s famous growl, which shows no sign of weakening even in 2007. Chris is simply one of a kind, a true emperor! The album is Digger-style furious and scorching, just as required! Fully loaded with metal riffage!
No ballads this time. Okay, I’m lying. If you get the “digipack limited edition” of the new album, you’ll be happy to find an extra track called Ship Of Hope. It’s a song that surpasses many a “regular” track on the new album in atmosphere. In fact, you do kind of miss the ebb and flow of dynamics on the album, precisely because of the lack of variety between the songs and an excess of one-dimensionality, courtesy of the totally predictable standard Grave Digger riff. Most of them charge along the standard Grave Digger school. Manni Schmidt is an outstanding guitarist, since he spits out heaps of witty solos, which confirms the exceptional talent the guy has. It might be worth considering adding a baroque acoustic interlude in the future, guys, and a touch more classical piano, which the first song actually has for a few fleeting moments in the outro. Manni’s potential isn’t being used to the full. I’m splitting hairs over Grave Digger’s mighty balls, I know. And yet. There’s already a pile of released records, and Motorhead-style sameness syndrome is knocking on the door in earnest. I simply think too little time passes between the records the guys put out. The reason is probably in the label contract, but special departures in musical virtuosity, special witty tricks that would surprise someone who, once they’ve gotten to know the first Grave Digger album, can’t be surprised by any following one anymore (what you see, is what you get), are simply becoming an endangered species, like this year’s Slovenian snow.
With “Liberty Or Death”, Grave Digger have put out (just) one more album for their fans. They hold tight to their trademarks, and through the prism of Grave Digger metal the album is perfectly acceptable and consistent. So, no complaints on that front. The only things that bug me are the riff repetition and the lack of creative freshness. True, the album in places pulls successfully toward the band’s golden era, but let’s be honest. Living your past all over again isn’t exactly a step forward, not even for a band.
Lineup
Chris Boltendahl – vocals
Manni Schmidt – guitar
H.P. Katzenburg – keyboards
Jens Becker – bass guitar
Stefan Arnold – drums
Tracklist
01. Liberty Or Death
02. Ocean Of Blood
03. Highland Tears
04. The Terrible One
05. Until The Last King Died
06. March Of The Innocent
07. Silent Revolution
08. Shadowland
09. Forecourt To Hell
10. Massada
11. Ship Of Hope(bonus track)
