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Grave Digger - The Last Supper review




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Reviewer:
8.5

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Band: Grave Digger
Album: The Last Supper
Release date: January 2005


01. Passion
02. The Last Supper
03. Desert Rose
04. Grave In The No Man's Land
05. Hell To Pay
06. Soul Savior
07. Crucified
08. Divided Cross
09. The Night Before
10. Black Widows
11. Hundred Days
12. Always And Eternally
13. Sleepless [Limited Edition Digipak bonus]
14. Jeepers Creepers [Limited Edition Digipak bonus]

Chris Boltendahl and his legion of gravediggers are passing by the town once again, it's now 21 years ago we, for the first time, got a chance to see them, and this year is no exception.
Before the release of 2003's "Rheingold", the Diggers were speaking about a trilogy about the myth of the "Ring of the Nibelungen", and I was 100% sure that this album would be the second part of the trilogy.
But as many bands do after releasing a concept album, Grave Diggers made a regular album, without any concept, they are taking a break from the concept in other words.

For me, "Rheingold" was something of a disappointment, I had just some months before bought "The Grave Digger" and loved that album so much, and them I got "Rheingold" and I didn't find it even half as good as "The Grave Digger".
But in time, I have learnt to accept it and today I find the album pretty good.
So my expectations on "The Last Supper" weren't so high, and maybe that's why I find the album very good.

The first thing you'll notice with "The Last Supper" is the cover-art that represents Jesus Christ eating his last meal with death snorting him in the neck.
Already now, almost a month before the release (this is written in December) many fans has turned to Grave Digger about this cover, and saying that they are turning against a more satanic way because of this cover, by the Diggers clearly explains that there aren't any, what so ever, satanic thoughts behind it, and refer to the lyrics of the song "Crucified". I just felt that I had to clear this out here too, so no one will have to wonder about it.

Anyway, let's talk about the music on Grave Diggers twelfth full-length album "The Last Supper". This is, at mentioned, not a concept album, not the second part of "Nibelungen", it's just an ordinary Grave Digger album, that I think is very good.
The album starts with the title-track (after the intro "Passion") "The Last Supper", that's a very usual Grave Digger song, very catchy and Chris is as good as always, his very special voice sounds perfect as usual. The most unusual thing in the track is the middle-part, in which the music fades and you'll get some sad piano, pretty good actually, and that's also the way this song ends, with only a piano.

Then what's follow is one of the most typical Grave Digger songs on this album, "Desert Rose", it's a fast song and here you'll get some of the usual Manni riffing, the riffs that made him so popular in Grave Digger.
Following "Grave in the No Man's Land" is the best this album has to offer, the intro riffing is just eating my brain from inside, fucking brilliant Manni. And the lyrics fits perfectly and Chris sings even better than usual, a fucking masterpiece.

And after such bomb, it's hard for an album to climb even higher, but that's understandable and with one song like that, the album is saved, at least in my ears.
But we shall not forget the rest of the song, next up is "Hell to Pay" once again a pretty usual GD song, fast and with a pretty catchy but boring chorus.
"Soul Savior" is the second best song on the album, the song starts with some Manni riffing and then holding the tempo almost straight through the album. Both the bridge and the chorus is good, Chris sings very dark. A pretty usual GD song, but I find it better than the average.

The following song is the one you shall read the lyrics to understand the cover artwork; "Crucified" is about Jesus last time alive. The song is mid-paced, and together with the lyrics the song feels pretty sad, almost ballad-alike.
"Divided Cross" has maybe the second best intro here, the bright screaming guitars are awesome, but the song is pretty much average, but with a good chorus.
"The Night Before" got a good chorus and "Black Widows" has a cool bridge, "Hundred Days" another typical GD track, sounds more like a filler, but a filler with a decent chorus.

The ending song "Always And Eternally" is a ballad, unfortunately this ballad is bad, it's way to cheesy and Chris is so wrong it can be, he's not emotional enough when it comes to cheesy ballads.

But in general I think this album is better than "Rheingold", but it's not because it's not a concept album, it's just because the material feels better and more even than on "Rheingold".
Anyway, it's yet another terrific release from one of the best Heavy Metal bands out there today, hail diggers!

Check Out: "Grave in the No Man's Land" and "Soul Savior" first, then check out "The Last Supper", "Crucified" and "Divided Cross".

Written by Malcolm | 13.01.2005



Staff review by
Pierre Tombale
Rating:
8.5
Once again it's time for a Grave Digger release, this time a not entirely conceptual album, dealing with Jesus throughout some of the songs, but not all. If the title 'The Last Supper' is the most suitable can be argumented about about, but this is certainly not the aim of this review.

The typical structure of the album has been a bit confused since the intro is not followed by a fast song, but by the title track that is mid-paced heavy metal. The second song comes in change as the fast paced power piece that would have been expected in position number one.

Read more ››
published 27.08.2005 | Comments (0)



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