GRAVE DIGGER — Excalibur (review)

Album · 1999 · Power Metal

5/5 · 2014-06-19
adg211288

Excalibur (1999) is the eighth full-length album by German power/heavy metal act Grave Digger. It is the third and final album so the so called Middle Ages Trilogy. The previous albums in the trilogy were Tunes of War (1996) and Knights of the Cross (1998). Excalibur is a concept album revolving around King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, making it more based on legend than fact, as the first two albums of the trilogy were. This is the last album from Grave Digger to feature guitarist Uwe Lulis who when then go on to form a similar band, Rebellion, with former Grave Digger bassist Tomi Göttlich (attempting to take the Grave Digger name with him in the process).

The music on Excalibur is a mix of aggressive power metal and traditional heavy metal, but with an emphasis on the former due to the general speed of the album. In typical Grave Digger style Chris Boltendahl's vocals are fairly harsh (but not growling); totally different from the more melodic tones employed by most acts from the genre, so you can guarantee that the music on the album is a far cry from the acts that typically get described as being cheesy by genre detractors.

Aside from the metal elements there's also a noticeable presence of folk music influences on Excalibur. The opening track The Secrets of Merlin is dominated by this style and the element keeps cropping up in small bursts in other songs including Pendragon, Morgane le Fay and The Final War. Given the lyrical concept the folk elements are an extremely effective addition to the Grave Digger sound, giving off vibes that I can only really describe as Old English. Very authentic sounding stuff and not at all cliché. The folk instruments used on the album include drehleier, bagpipes, barockoboe, schalmei, and whistles. They were played by Subway to Sally members Bodenski and Eric Fish.

The songs are among the best that Grave Digger has ever recorded and the album has an absolutely great flow to it, the way any concept album worth its salt should have. Tracks like Pendragon, Excalibur and The Final War are stomping metal anthems while others such as Morgane le Fay also add in a softer side but prove just as powerful as the most full on stuff, perhaps even more so because of the soft and heavy dynamics. There are some issues with Chris Boltendahl's pronunciation that may raise a smile or two and his gravelly vocals may sound out of place on a power metal record to some and even more so on the piano led ballad Emerald Eyes, but Grave Digger would not be the same without him and at the end of day Excalibur along with the earlier Tunes of War represents the band at their peak. Albums like this are, to me, what metal is all about; heavy, powerful, and timeless stuff and Excalibur is a genre classic without a doubt. 5 Stars.

97/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/grave-digger-excalibur-t3563.html)