Grave Digger

Ballads of a Hangman

Schnitzel mit Pommes… again? | Napalm

After more than a quarter-century as the eternal bridesmaids of the European power metal scene, it must be quite a challenge for Grave Digger mainman Chris Boltendahl to drag himself out of bed on those dark, damp Monday mornings with the pressing matter of a new album very much at hand. Lauded for the trio of enjoyably camp concept albums that briefly lit up the drabness of the ’90s, the stoical Germans have never quite managed to translate the caché of Tunes of War, Knights of the Cross and Excalibur into a lasting legacy. But their fate was essentially sealed years earlier. Like fellow Teutonic travellers Running Wild and Rage, Grave Digger flirted with thrash in their ’80s heyday and ultimately fell victim to it. Instead of embracing the direction their heavier numbers so desperately wanted to drag them in, they made a lunge for the mainstream, issued the pathetic Stronger Than Ever album in ’87 and promptly imploded.

—Greg Moffitt

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