┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │■ ■│ │ .-/ .-. │ │ _.-~ / ___ | ~-._ │ │ \:/ -~| / __/| .\:/ │ │ / || (:/:| \ │ │ / /\/| |:\___\| |\ \ │ │ / /:::|.::/:::/:.|:\ \ │ │ / /:::/ \\/:::/::/:::\ \ │ │ / .::\ \-~~~~-/\/:.. \ │ │ /..:::::\ /:::::..\ │ │ /::::::::- -::::::::\ │ │ \:::::-~ ~-:::::/ │ │ \:-~ ~-:/ │ │ METAL CLASSICS ARCHIVE │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ P R E S E N T S │ │ │ │ │ │ + Grave Digger - The Living Dead-(NPR 804 DP) + │ │ │ │ │ │╔═════════════════════╗ │ │║ Release Information ║ │ │╠═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════╗ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Release Date.Oct-09-2018 Encoder......L3.98.4 -V0 --lowpas ║ │ │║ Genre........Heavy Metal Graber.......EAC ║ │ │║ Year.........2018 Khz/Bitrate..44,1/ Br ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Ripper.......anthem Songs........11 ║ │ │║ Covers.......Yes Url... www.grave-digger-clan.de ║ │ │║ ║ │ │╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │╔═════════════════════╗ │ │║ Release Notes ║ │ │╠═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════╗ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Artist : Grave Digger Rating : You Decide! ║ │ │║ Album : The Living Dead-(NPR 804 DP) Label : Napalm ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ ║ │ │╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Description : ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ When in the graveyard, do as the corpses do, or ║ │ │║ at least this would be the advice given to those ║ │ │║ venturing into the cemetery if Grave DiggerÆs ║ │ │║ playground of the undead were a real place. Such ║ │ │║ a truism is a fitting way to begin any ║ │ │║ conversation regarding said band given that ║ │ │║ their impact on the heavy metal world, ║ │ │║ particularly following the downturn the genre ║ │ │║ took in the early 90s, has been analogous to ║ │ │║ Ancient RomeÆs on the annals of antiquity. ║ │ │║ Consequently, there is only one real enemy of a ║ │ │║ band that has become synonymous with the very ║ │ │║ concept of German metal over their near 4 decade ║ │ │║ career, namely expectation. Naturally this band ║ │ │║ has had a few bumps in the road over the course ║ │ │║ of their long history, but with much of their ║ │ │║ back catalog falling under the category of ║ │ │║ essential listening for any self-respecting fan ║ │ │║ of traditionally laced, speed-driven power ║ │ │║ metal, there is a degree of pressure to deliver ║ │ │║ that goes with the territory. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Given that Grave DiggerÆs previous 2017 LP ║ │ │║ Healed By Metal was given a lukewarm reception ║ │ │║ in many quarters, comparatively speaking, it ║ │ │║ stands to reason that Boltendahl and company ║ │ │║ were not going to be playing things safe this ║ │ │║ time around. Granted, there is a fairly well- ║ │ │║ established stylistic orthodoxy that this band ║ │ │║ has adhered to since their re-inception in 1991, ║ │ │║ but The Living Dead does quite a bit to stretch ║ │ │║ the bandÆs boundaries and comes with a few ║ │ │║ noteworthy surprises to complement the ôstick to ║ │ │║ what worksö mentality that theyÆve been wont to ║ │ │║ maintain. The general rule at play here is a ║ │ │║ well-produced, bottom-heavy synthesis of 80s ║ │ │║ arena sing-along goodness, riff happy ║ │ │║ speed/thrash, gravely shouts to rival Lemmy ║ │ │║ Kilmister after a mountain of Marlboros and ║ │ │║ beer, and the somewhat more recent virtuoso lead ║ │ │║ guitar majesty of Alex ôIronfingerö Ritt, but as ║ │ │║ with a number of previous albums since 1993, ║ │ │║ there are some curious stylistic quirks to keep ║ │ │║ things interesting. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Though changing times have not been lost on ║ │ │║ these mad metallic maestros, the packaging of ║ │ │║ these songs definitely has more of an eye ║ │ │║ towards the compact, symmetrical songwriting ║ │ │║ conventions of their mid-80s roots. Likewise, ║ │ │║ when approaching the fairly hard-hitting yet ║ │ │║ highly accessible anthems that are ôThe Power Of ║ │ │║ Metalö and ôFist In Your Faceö, there is a ║ │ │║ noticeable remnant of this bandÆs iconic arena ║ │ │║ fare from Witch Hunter and War Games that has a ║ │ │║ bit more in common with classic Accept and Judas ║ │ │║ Priest in spite of the updated production ║ │ │║ quality. The same basically holds true from ║ │ │║ somewhat longer and more speedy numbers like ║ │ │║ ôHymn Of The Damnedö and ôFear Of The Living ║ │ │║ Deadö, which play with some creepy atmospheric ║ │ │║ intros before kicking into overdrive (the ║ │ │║ formerÆs employment of a music box playing a ║ │ │║ childrenÆs song is particularly haunting), but ║ │ │║ are largely chorus oriented songs in the old ║ │ │║ school power metal mold and are fairly ║ │ │║ predictable. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ All of that considered, there are some ║ │ │║ absolutely spellbinding moments where things get ║ │ │║ thrown for a proverbial loop. While this band ║ │ │║ has always carried an affinity for the speed ║ │ │║ metal bordering on thrash sound of early ║ │ │║ Metallica going all the way back to their 1984 ║ │ │║ debut Heavy Metal Breakdown, the impact factor ║ │ │║ on speedy riff monsters such as ôWhen Death ║ │ │║ Passes Byö and ôWhat War Left Behindö is nothing ║ │ │║ short of jarring, tilting this album into ║ │ │║ heavier territory than most of their previous ║ │ │║ offerings. Much of this owes to the thunderous ║ │ │║ drum work of longtime kit master Stefan Arnold, ║ │ │║ who sadly ended up parting ways with the band ║ │ │║ soon after this album was recorded, but there ║ │ │║ are no slouches to speak of anywhere. By way of ║ │ │║ contrast, things take an oddball term into ║ │ │║ novelty territory with ôZombie Danceö, which ║ │ │║ mixes in a heavy degree of Slavic Polka ║ │ │║ influences and almost listens more like a ║ │ │║ Korpiklaani song than what this band normally ║ │ │║ deals in, but works well all the same. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ The expectation factor may well continue to dog ║ │ │║ Grave Digger for the rest of their existence ║ │ │║ given the depth of their accomplishments, but it ║ │ │║ was all but a non-factor in tripping this album ║ │ │║ up. Barring the occasional complaint of the ║ │ │║ stylistic divergence on ôZombie Danceö, which ║ │ │║ was curiously selected as a promotional single ║ │ │║ for this album, and a somewhat techno-like ║ │ │║ keyboard intro on ôInsane Painö, this is more of ║ │ │║ that same dark, pounding power metal goodness ║ │ │║ that has been consistently delivered since ║ │ │║ 1993Æs The Reaper. It could be said that the ║ │ │║ passage of time does not hinder the efforts of ║ │ │║ Death, and thus far the same could be said about ║ │ │║ the band that has become synonymous with his ║ │ │║ most popular depiction. Until the day that ║ │ │║ BoltendahlÆs voice fails him or this bandÆs well ║ │ │║ of ideas runs dry, nothing will be able to stop ║ │ │║ this longstanding German metal institution, and ║ │ │║ hopefully there will be many more LPs to come ║ │ │║ before one of those happens. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Review written by hells_unicorn for ║ │ │║ www.sonicperspectives.com ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Chris Boltendahl - Vocals ║ │ │║ Stefan Arnold - Drums ║ │ │║ Jens Becker - Bass ║ │ │║ Axel Ritt - Guitars ║ │ │║ Marcus Kniep - Keyboards ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ ║ │ │╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │╔═════════════════════╗ │ │║ Release Tracklist ║ │ │╚═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════ │ │ │ │ 01 - Fear Of The Living Dead [05:31] │ │ 02 - Blade Of The Immortal [04:08] │ │ 03 - When Death Passes By [03:53] │ │ 04 - Shadow Of The Warrior [04:33] │ │ 05 - The Power Of Metal [03:53] │ │ 06 - Hymn Of The Damned [05:31] │ │ 07 - What War Left Behind [03:31] │ │ 08 - Fist In Your Face [03:25] │ │ 09 - Insane Pain [03:05] │ │ 10 - Zombie Dance [03:47] │ │ 11 - Glory Or Grave (Bonus Track) [04:22] │ │ │ │ Total Length : [45:39 minn │ │ │ │ │ │ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ╔═════════════════════╗ │ │ ║ Greetings To: ║ │ │ ╚═════════════════════╝ │ │ │ │ Too all people who contributes to make this │ │ archive of good music in a exceptional conditions │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │■ ■│ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘