{"id":7404,"date":"2012-08-31T00:00:44","date_gmt":"2012-08-31T00:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=7404"},"modified":"2014-07-16T12:14:55","modified_gmt":"2014-07-16T12:14:55","slug":"album-review-grave-digger-clash-of-the-gods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-grave-digger-clash-of-the-gods\/","title":{"rendered":"GRAVE DIGGER – Clash Of The Gods (2012) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

GRAVE DIGGER
Clash Of The Gods<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nNapalm (2012)<\/span>
Rating: 6.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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I never thought Grave Digger could stir my innards again. The fiery days of Heavy Metal Breakdown<\/em><\/a> (1984) and Witch Hunter<\/em> (1985) seem so long ago, but hell, these German metalheads have produced a pretty decent power metal opus, one that is big on melody, loud in its expression and fiery at its heart. What more could you want from a real metal album?<\/p>\n

Through thick and thin, Grave Digger have stuck to their guns, never once succumbing to, or being buckled by trends. They have ploughed on like a great metal machine, with their main weapon being the scything guitar attack of Axel Ritt.<\/p>\n

One track on this new opus sums up Grave Digger, and that is the epic \u2018Walls Of Sorrow\u2019, which features some of the best guitar playing I\u2019ve heard for a long, long time. Couple this with the rattling drums of Stefan Arnold, and the alternating vocal moods of Chris Boltendahl and we\u2019re surely onto a winner.<\/p>\n

For the most part, Clash Of The Gods<\/em> is a savage record, my attention only occasionally dented by those keyboards which at times give the album an all too icy feel, especially on the aforementioned \u2018Walls Of Sorrow\u2019, which for the most part is a sterling track that sees Boltendahl shift between snarling warrior and wailing wizard. The chorus is infectious if a little watery, but again, it\u2019s those guitars which save the day.<\/p>\n

\u2018Medusa\u2019 follows a similar vein, opening with eerie gothic swirls and misty vocals before lurching into a full frontal metal assault. Despite the lyrical naivety (\u201cMedusa \u2013 frozen to death, Medusa \u2013 breathe one last breath\u201d<\/em>), it\u2019s a more ominous track featuring some frantic war drumming.<\/p>\n

In general, a majority of the tracks Clash Of The Gods<\/em> has to offer are uptempo, Judas Priest-like racers that tend to be bogged down by the slightly irritable choruses.<\/p>\n

\u2018Warriors Revenge\u2019 is a metallic beast that charges head first into the walls, but the Euro goth-style chorus grates ever so slightly. And when the band slows things down, especially on a track like \u2018Call Of The Sirens\u2019, the keyboard\u2019s tend to float aimlessly like some fantasy film soundtrack. Admittedly, and once again, the riffs save the day \u2013 this time around Ritt laces the track with a doom-laden pearl \u2013 but vocally \u2018Call Of The Sirens\u2019 is the album\u2019s weakest track, as Boltendahl wobbles through the introductory: \u201cMy journey began after the war of troy, Many I lost my friend my faith and my joy, Trouble started as we dazzled the cyclops, We\u2019re punished with pain more than words can say\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

There is too much cheese at times, orchestrated by Boltendahl, but on opener \u2018God Of Terror\u2019 one could be mistaken for thinking that Clash Of The Gods<\/em> is going to be a full throttle metal masterpiece, as the frontman becomes a German Lemmy (Mot\u00f6rhead frontman) with those rusty rasps. \u2018Hell Dog\u2019 is equally pounding, but sadly it doesn\u2019t last. There are just too many highs and lows for this to be a classic Grave Digger album.<\/p>\n

While Grave Digger are keen to keep the metal fires burning, just like a few of those Manowar albums, this is a little too muscular in its flexing, giving the impression of a band who too many times cross the line between meaty and cheesy. All hail the guitar sound of Axel Ritt, but for me this record is more a clash of emotions rather than swords.<\/p>\n

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

GRAVE DIGGERClash Of The Gods Napalm (2012)Rating: 6.5\/10 I never thought Grave Digger could stir my innards again. The fiery days of Heavy Metal Breakdown (1984) and Witch Hunter (1985) seem so long ago, but hell, these German metalheads have produced a pretty decent power metal opus, one that is big on melody, loud in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[184],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grave-digger"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7404","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=7404"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7404\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20324,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7404\/revisions\/20324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}