Grave Digger
Healed By Metal
Napalm Records
2017
I can’t even begin to count what number “Healed By Metal” takes up in the studio releases of ze German Diggers of Graves, but that’s immaterial. With the exception of the ill-fated “Digger” album, Grave Digger have been steady as few bands have in hammering out, Teutonic Steel without stopping or really tiring too much. Enjoying a fairly cult name in the 80s and a great resurgence in the 90s with the seminal “Tunes of War”, Chris Boltendahl and co have been going on (albeit with slightly changing lineups) since then… oh and yeah, this is the nineteenth album. Holy F#$K. Pushing past the 35 year mark, they’re still doing pretty well by all accounts.
While the band’s post millennial album production has somewhat slowed and quality has hit a bit of a plateau, quite a few songs on this new album try hard to change that, with results mixed at best. While a “big hit” eludes the band, songs like “When Night Falls”, “Lawbreaker” and a few more seem to be quite pleasant to the ear; the band doesn’t manage to avoid too many mid-tempo tracks, too many Accept, Priest and own references, but I guess you’ve come to expect that – this far into their career. Fans will get more of what they like, while others will probably whistle along non emphatically.
While the band’s post millennial album production has somewhat slowed and quality has hit a bit of a plateau, quite a few songs on this new album try hard to change that, with results mixed at best. While a “big hit” eludes the band, songs like “When Night Falls”, “Lawbreaker” and a few more seem to be quite pleasant to the ear; the band doesn’t manage to avoid too many mid-tempo tracks, too many Accept, Priest and own references, but I guess you’ve come to expect that – this far into their career. Fans will get more of what they like, while others will probably whistle along non emphatically.