Grave Digger

Kalata

Out of the Silent Planet
I do not found a thread for them.

Underrated band with brutal riffs. Their Middle Ages Trilogy is great.

Their best album is probably Knights Of The Cross (1998).
 
Something new: They will release their new (20th!) album called Fields Of Blood on May 29th ! The album will be about the Scottish history (like their album Tunes Of War from 1996). They will celebrate the band's 40th anniversary with it.

We did it again and put on the kilts... as we always got fascinated by Scotland and its history. For a long time we considered when the right time would be to return to the Highlands, delve into their legends and myths. Our 40th band anniversary seems to be the right occasion for this and so we take you on a trip for the third time... put on the kilts and pull out your swords and axes, follows us to Stirling and Culloden and experience up close Scottish history, up close, authentic and emotional. As William Wallace / Braveheart said: Yes, they may take our lives. But they never take away our freedom!

Here's the tracklist:

1.The Clansman's Journey (Intro)
2.All For The Kingdom
3.Lions Of The Sea
4.Freedom
5.The Heart Of Scotland
6.Thousand Tears
7.Union Of The Crown
8.My Final Fight
9.Gathering Of The Clans
10.Barbarian
11.Fields Of Blood
12.Requiem For The Fallen (Outro)

And here's the album cover (which is one of the best covers from the band!). You can spot William Wallace from Braveheart and the piper from the cover of their album Tunes Of War from 1996 on the right side of the cover.

fields of blood 2020 album cover.jpg
 
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The first song released is ''All For The Kingdom''

So far, good. Typical riff for the band, great chorus and solo. Hope the album will be great.

 
Something new: They will release their new (20th!) album called Fields Of Blood on May 29th ! The album will be about the Scottish history (like their album Tunes Of War from 1996). They will celebrate the band's 40th anniversary with it.

We did it again and put on the kilts... as we always got fascinated by Scotland and its history. For a long time we considered when the right time would be to return to the Highlands, delve into their legends and myths. Our 40th band anniversary seems to be the right occasion for this and so we take you on a trip for the third time... put on the kilts and pull out your swords and axes, follows us to Stirling and Culloden and experience up close Scottish history, up close, authentic and emotional. As William Wallace / Braveheart said: Yes, they may take our lives. But they never take away our freedom!

Here's the tracklist:

1.The Clansman's Journey
2.All For The Kingdom
3.Lions Of The Sea
4.Freedom
5.The Heart Of Scotland
6.Thousand Tears
7.Union Of The Crown
8.My Final Fight
9.Gathering Of The Clans
10.Barbarian
11.Fields Of Blood
12.Requiem For The Fallen

And here's the album cover (which is one of the best covers from the band!). You can spot William Wallace from Braveheart and the piper from the cover of their album Tunes Of War from 1996 on the right side of the cover.

View attachment 11546
Tunes of War wasn't the only one with a Scottish theme. The Clans Rise Again is supposed to be a sequel. Personally I love this band. They're like the AC/DC of metal. They haven't changed one bit sound wise, you know exactly what to expect and it is fairly solid. Some on the board have complained about the singing and the fact that it's the same shit over and over, but I really enjoy it. It's my kind of cheese. My favorite is The Last Supper. Something about thinking that's how Jesus really sounded does it for me on so many levels lol. I have quite a few of their albums and enjoy them all.
 
Tunes of War wasn't the only one with a Scottish theme. The Clans Rise Again is supposed to be a sequel. Personally I love this band. They're like the AC/DC of metal. They haven't changed one bit sound wise, you know exactly what to expect and it is fairly solid. Some on the board have complained about the singing and the fact that it's the same shit over and over, but I really enjoy it. It's my kind of cheese. My favorite is The Last Supper. Something about thinking that's how Jesus really sounded does it for me on so many levels lol. I have quite a few of their albums and enjoy them all.

Oh yeah. I forgot that The Clans Will Rise Again is a loose sequel to Tunes Of War.

I also like them. They are a band that maintained their sound during all those years. Their debut album, Heavy Metal Breakdown (1984) is strongly influenced by Accept. My favorite album is Knights Of The Cross, but I think their last good album (as a whole piece) was Rheingold (2003).
 
I don't have their 80s albums nor early 90s. I have most of the ones from 99 on. Without looking through my collection (or google) I believe they are Excalibur, Self-Titled, Rheingold, the Last Supper, Liberty or Death, Ballad of the Hangman, The Clans Will Rise Again... I do feel like I'm missing one, but eh.
 
New song from the upcoming album: ''Thousand Tears'' feat. Noora Louhimo from Battle Beast.

 
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The new album is good (big improvement from the last one). I think it's one of the better albums (since 2003) for the band.

The album starts with a intro and ends with a instrumental. But what I really like is that this new album is full of great (memorable) choruses and melodic passages - something that was missing in their recent albums. The title track is an 10+ minutes epic with interesting tempo changes. And of course, the album cover is top-notch.
 
It really seems that Grave Digger needs an epic theme to get the most of out them. I'd say this is easily their best album since probably Ballads of a Hangmen. I'm actually really surprised at how great it is as I've found pretty much everything since Ritt has joined the band pretty disappointing.
 
You really can make a strong album from some of the bonus songs, EP's and stuff released by Grave Digger through the years:

Back To The Roots
Don't Bring Me Down
House Of Horror
Shout It Out
World Of Fools
Young And Dangerous
Parcival
Glory Or Grave
Saints Of The Broken Souls

- some of the songs are from Symphony Of Death EP (1994)... drummer in this EP is Jörg Michael.
 
New album called Symbol Of Eternity will be released on August 26th, 2022.

On their latest album "Symbol of Eternity" they continue to spin the story of the Crusaders... after having dealt with it once before on the album "Knights of the Cross", they devote themselves once again to the fabled history of the Templars. Razor-sharp riffs, opulent choir arrangements and the distinctive voice of Chris Boltendahl are components of Grave Digger's new work. All the trademarks that have made the band stand out for 4 decades can be heard on the album... an original and hard album is "Symbol of become eternity". And yet, next to the merciless riffs, like in the opening headbanger "Battle Cry", melodic refrains are always in the foreground... hard double bass attacks alternating with mid-tempo songs and the almost doom-like title track will make every headbanger's heart beat faster.

They are certainly at their best when they write about epic theme. The last album was great, so I have high expectations from this one too.

Track list and album cover:

1.The Siege Of Akkon
2.Battle Cry
3.Hell Is My Purgatory
4.King Of The Kings
5.Symbol Of Eternity
6.Saladin
7.Nights Of Jerusalem
8.Heart Of A Warrior
9.Grace Of God
10.Sky Of Swords
11.Holy Warfare
12.The Last Crusade

279954982_559864445500973_3703351042684369983_n.jpg

-> Second brutally good album cover (full of details) in a row!
 
New single - ''King Of The Kings''

It's better than the first one. Killer riff, great chorus, perfect solo and nice melodies.

 
Third single - ''Heart Of A Warrior''

Good song (without a solo!). The riff is great (as always), interesting delivery of the vocals in the verses (I like it) and the chorus is memorable and typical for them. The melody in the middle should have been longer (the drumming is perfect here). Nice outro.

 
My Grave Digger reviews here :





 
The new album is very good, but the previous one was better IMO (I like every song from it). I'm glad that the great choir choruses are presented again, as well as the crushing riffs. I don't like that the use of double bass is almost in every song, the transition between verses & pre-chorus has been the same for a long time and that the instrumental sections are short.

The album has 2 Intros (both feel epic), ''Battle Cry'' is a great fast opener with anthemic chorus and stormy instrumental section, The title track is a mid-tempo heavy banger with an awesome riff, acoustic verses, big chorus and the chaotic solo fits well, ''Nights Of Jerusalem'' has a typical chorus for the band and the solo is a highlight, ''Grace Of God'' is one of the most interesting compositions with a heavy use of the acoustic guitar, ''Sky Of Swords'' has a big Manowar vibe, no solo but the guitar harmony, riff and the choir outro are really strong, ''Holy Warfare'' is a good song with an awesome metal riff, good chorus and instrumental section, ''The Last Crusade'' is the longest song in the album and it's great album closer with its marching riffs, memorable chorus and the fusion of slow and fast solo.

Best songs: ''King Of The Kings'', ''Heart Of A Warrior'', ''Battle Cry'', ''Symbol Of Eternity'', ''Sky Of Swords'' and ''The Last Crusade''.

Edit: All in all, the last 2 albums are some of the band's best as a whole piece and it's great to listen to them back to back.
 
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We have a modern sequel of all but one of the original Middle Ages Trilogy albums:

Tunes Of War (1996) -> Fields Of Blood (2020)
Knights Of The Cross (1998) -> Symbol Of Eternity (2022)
Excalibur (1999) -> maybe the next album?

I can easily say that these are the best albums of the band.
 
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