GRAVE DIGGER – Liberty Or Death

Grave Digger has been one of the most reliable exporters of quality German Heavy Metal for over 25 years now; they can generally be counted on to produce a solid collection of hard-hitting Metal tunes with each new release. The band’s previous studio album, The Last Supper, was a respectable outing from lead singer Chris Boltendahl and company, although it wasn’t quite up to the standards of some of their earlier discs. Still, it was good overall.

Liberty Or Death is Grave Digger’s latest offering, consisting of 10 tracks (11 on the digipak version), with each song revolving around the same general themes: war, fighting for freedom, famous warriors, and battles for liberty throughout history.

Grave Digger has always had a straightforward, somewhat predictable approach to their music, and they haven’t varied it too much over the years, even as the songs became more complex: big razor-sharp guitar riffs and flashy solos, speedy melodies, sing-along choruses, lots of fiery energy, and the gravelly vocals of Chris Boltendahl topping it all off. A few songs here and there would use some slight orchestral and/or classical arrangements to good effect. This headbanging formula has won Grave Digger lots of fans.

Liberty Or Death follows the above blueprint pretty closely: Manni Schmidt’s riffs hit you in the face, the same as they always do, and Boltendahl’s vocals are as gruff as ever. There are lots of vocal passages that will have you singing along with your fists in the air, and the production is huge, loud, and crystal clear.

However, you’ll notice something that separates Liberty Or Death from some of Grave Digger’s past classics, and that is the relative lack of really fast, energetic songs. Grave Digger has come up with some adrenaline-spiked tunes in the past that buried the speedometer needle in the red; you’d get whiplash if you tried to headbang along to some of them. Most of the songs on Liberty Or Death are more mid-tempo and not nearly as fast as some of the band’s other stuff. A few tracks are rather speedy, most notably “Ocean Of Blood” and “The Terrible One,” which is one of the better tracks on the disc. There are no bad songs on the album -– other good tunes would be “Highland Tears,” “Until The Last King Died,” “Forecourt To Hell,” and “Silent Revolution” — but there are no likely future classics. The album is still heavier than a truckload of anvils, though, and you certainly won’t be bored listening to it. And, just try not to sing along with “Silent Revolution,” which has really infectious vocal melodies. The riffs and solo on this song are really good too.

Liberty Or Death is another dependable disc with Grave Digger doing what they do best; the album isn’t one of their finest outings, but it’s still pretty good for fans of the band and those who like fine German Heavy Metal.