adg211288 Return of the Reaper (2014) is the sixteenth full-length studio album by German power metal act Grave Digger (or seventeenth, if you count Stronger Than Ever (1986), which was released under the name Digger). Though Grave Digger have been going for over thirty years now and 2014 will mark the thirtieth anniversary of their debut album Heavy Metal Breakdown (1984) the band shows no signs of slowing down and as their last couple of releases in particular have proved they're still capable of putting out strong albums on a consistent basis. That's not a claim every artist whose career lasts this long can make. I'm looking at you Metallica...

Although they began as a traditional metal band from The Reaper (1993) onwards Grave Digger have belonged more to the power metal genre than anything, sometimes producing albums that were equally heavy metal and power metal and sometimes adding folk music elements to their sound. The group's last couple of albums have fallen into the folk influenced area, The Clans Will Rise Again (2010) more so than Clash of the Gods (2012), which was otherwise one of their power metal dominant efforts. On Return of the Reaper Grave Digger have returned to mixing both heavy metal and power metal in amount equal measures without folk influences. There's an appropriate intro of church bells, rain and melancholic piano in the form of the title track which then builds up into Hell Funeral and the album actually closes with a piano led ballad, Nothing to Believe (which definitely brings mind to Emerald Eyes from the Excalibur (1999) album), but the ten tracks in-between them really set about bringing the riffs with a vengeance. It's the classic Grave Digger sound in other words; not exactly innovative by this point in time, but some absolutely kick arse metal anyway.

The band have always been on the heavier end of the power metal genre and they continue to produce some really fast and aggressive stuff on Return of the Reaper, especially tracks like Hell Funeral, War God and Resurrection Day, which are early highlights. Tracks like this usually prove my personal favourites on a Grave Digger record and Return of the Reaper is no exception, but the strength of the more heavy metal orientated tracks like Season of the Witch shouldn't be overlooked either. This one has an almost doom feel to it; very dark and moody stuff. Later in the album come another couple of highlights in the form of Grave Desecrator and Death Smiles at All of Us. The latter has a more uplifting vibe to the music despite the name than the typical Grave Digger track, with quite the catchy chorus. The closing ballad I mentioned earlier is also very well done. Ballads tend to be very hit and miss on power metal records but Grave Digger have certainly scored a hit here and closing the album proves rather effective.

As with most albums there are a couple of lesser tracks as well, namely Satan's Host and Dia De Los Muertos, but the quality of the album overall is some of the strongest stuff that Grave Digger have put out in the last ten years. I'd say that the album is their best since Rheingold (2003) even. And that's some achievement as their last few records have all been strong too, especially The Clans Will Rise Again. Return of the Reaper is the way any band should celebrate such a milestone year as 2014 is for them; in style. 4.5 Stars are easily deserved.

90/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/grave-digger-return-of-the-reaper-t3626.html)