{"id":51805,"date":"2017-01-13T00:00:06","date_gmt":"2017-01-13T00:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=51805"},"modified":"2017-01-17T15:46:08","modified_gmt":"2017-01-17T15:46:08","slug":"album-review-grave-digger-healed-by-metal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-grave-digger-healed-by-metal\/","title":{"rendered":"GRAVE DIGGER – Healed By Metal (2017) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

GRAVE DIGGER
Healed By Metal<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nNapalm (2017)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Having formed back in 1980, German metallers Grave Digger are like an endless army destined to march forever in the name of metal. You know what you\u2019re going to get when they arrive at your gate and you\u2019re more than happy to join them and leave your abode as debris, because over time they\u2019ve become somewhat indicative of what German metal is all about.<\/p>\n

While others may have strayed from the path, these guys have galloped, hammered, pushed, nudged, punched and headbanged their way into our lives, and with Healed By Metal<\/em> we get another slab of anthemic, precise and joyous, fist-pumping metal. And we wouldn\u2019t want it any other way.<\/p>\n

With what feels like their hundredth album, and with Chris \u201cReaper\u201d Boltendahl leading the charge, Healed By Metal<\/em> is \u2013 to put to very simple \u2013 symbolic of what this band stands for. Alongside, say, Accept they\u2019ve bludgeoned their way through fields, forests, walls and bone to deliver their eighteenth opus and it\u2019s one that brings that all too familiar clap of thunder, those recognisable chants of unison and ultimately another metallic opus of shine and spirit.<\/p>\n

For consistency the band have never really wavered; constant are their battle-charged hymns of death and glory. It could be argued that with everything having been said and done in the 80s and early 90s that bands of this ilk are merely recycling and then recharging, but then what else do we expect such stalwarts to do? If Sodom, Kreator, Tankard and Destruction are the veterans of Teutonic thrash, then Grave Digger are the kings of Teutonic metal. Their only flirtations being with a supreme glazed Gothic power metal or tenuous thrashy glints, but above all \u2013 as with every other slab they\u2019ve constructed \u2013 Healed By Metal<\/em> is a veritable powerhouse of persistent anthems which begin their charge with the epic and yet rather short title track, which for its duration feels like a call to endless war.<\/p>\n

The percussion of Stefan Arnold is like the raising of the banners, the bass of Jens Becker is the echoing canon, the keyboards of Marcus Kniep is the artillery approaching from the flanks, the guitars Axel \u201cIronfinger\u201d Ritt is the booming ammunition cascading from above, and with Chris Boltendahl there are those commands to drive us on. And that\u2019s exactly what Grave Digger does; a driving force so unstoppable that the familiarity of its guise may deter some, but for those die-hard enough to remain will no doubt be rewarded for such loyalty.<\/p>\n

The anthems come plundering time and time again; \u2018Lawbreaker\u2019, \u2018Call For War\u2019, \u2018Ten Commandments Of Metal\u2019, \u2018Kill Ritual\u2019 et al are pretty much constructed by the template the band once crafted \u2013 constant returns to the late 80s only given more gloss and technological oomph. Of course, it\u2019s not always brilliant, but it\u2019s always there, like a well-armoured, tried and trusted tank ploughing furrows and crushing non-believers in its wake. <\/p>\n

Grave Digger has come too far to worry about trends or innovation; tweaks to the sound are scant but why change that formula? \u2018Free Forever\u2019 is a by-numbers metal stomp and \u2018Hallelujah\u2019 continues the theme, but because these guys have been around the block one just cannot get tired due to that stability. So in a sense, by remaining true to self, Grave Digger is as formidable as it ever was, not giving a damn in spite of some of the more comedic instances; like on \u2018Ten Commandments\u2019 when the rust is coated with strands of cheese. But considering they\u2019ve been around now for almost 40 years, one can only salute such prowess and powerful projection.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GRAVE DIGGERHealed By Metal Napalm (2017)Rating: 8\/10 Having formed back in 1980, German metallers Grave Digger are like an endless army destined to march forever in the name of metal. You know what you\u2019re going to get when they arrive at your gate and you\u2019re more than happy to join them and leave your abode […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[184],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grave-digger"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51805"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51807,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51805\/revisions\/51807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}