Artist: Grave Digger
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release Date: 4/4/00
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Title: Excalibur Artist: Grave Digger Label: Nuclear Blast Release Date: 4/4/00 |
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Abyss's Review:
If the name of this album wasn't enough to tip you off, Grave Digger have come out with a disc full of anthemic, old school heavy metal songs that center around the Arthurian Legends (with the exception of one which is based on The Romance of Tristan.) Anyway, I must admit these legends hold a great amount of interest to me personally, but I don't think my appreciation comes anything close to that of these gentlemen. One needs only to look at the cover work that shows the band members dressed as their favorite knights, and seated around The Round Table. Now, while it would be easy to make fun of such a melodramatic masquerade, it is no sillier than the productions put forth by many black and satanic bands, but it does make it slightly harder to take the music seriously.
"It's basically power metal that has less impressive vocals and a lot of chanting come chorus time." I don't like this genre of "true heavy metal" that much to begin with. To me it's basically power metal that has less impressive vocals and a lot of chanting come chorus time. I believe that these bands dilute their own sound by trying to make every song the centerpiece to the album. Quick lesson, every song cannot be an anthem, and when you try to do just that, it just comes across as them trying too hard. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if the "Stonehendge" segment of This is Spinal Tap makes me laugh, so does this band.
Unfortunately, music such as this is just unable to deliver what I listen to metal for. Bands like this, Blind Guardian, Manowar, and countless others just aren't that heavy, dark, or thick enough for me to have more than a passing interest. Now while they are by all counts metal, they seem to embrace the aspects of metal that I don't fully support. The guitar sound, rather than thick and dark, is most often compressed, and almost whiney. In many instances these songs are most similar to the glam riffs of the late eighties. This is evidenced very well on this disc on "The Round Table (Forever)." Now I agree this analogy falls apart after the initial intro, but I think to disregard the similarities would be denial.
" 'Together we stand, steel in our hands, fighting FOREVER, FOREVER we stand'... If you didn't smirk while reading this you might want to give this album a try." In all honesty I can't be fair to this album in the same way I couldn't do a fair review of an R&B album, I just don't like the genre enough to educate myself on what its fans appreciate. So in conclusion, for you to judge for yourself whether this album is worth your while, I submit a quote from the back cover... "Together we stand, steel in our hands, fighting FOREVER, FOREVER we stand"... If you didn't smirk while reading this you might want to give this album a try.
Death's Review:
Growing up, I had lots of action figures whose packaging would scream out "extra" features like "Hoth ice planet battle helmet included!" or "Complete with Kung-Fu Grip!" If Grave Digger were an action figure, the packaging would not just alert the consumers to the classic-sounding heavy metal band contained within, it would certainly boast that the album came "complete with animated skeleton wearing medieval battle gear and carrying a sword!" on its cover. In 2000, the "heavy metal" (as opposed to just "metal") moniker, with all of the honor, yet also all of the stereotypes and clichés, it might imply, fits no artist better than Grave Digger.
Grave Digger are traditional Teutonic heavy metal personified. Lyrics like "Together we stand, steel in our hearts, fighting forever, together we stand," sung, of course, in gang chorus, are the norm. Picture a poor man's Accept meets Blind Guardian meets In Extremo meets perhaps a bit of early eighties Priest and you're pretty much there.
"Let's be clear: bad German accents on unpleasant sounding voices, singing borderline embarrassing lyrics over cliched riffs and mid tempo beats do not the essential metal record make." Of course, Grave Digger deserve respect for producing nine albums over sixteen years, all the while staying true to a sound and style that, at least in the United States, will never, I repeat, will never be commercially viable in this country. The conclusion to the bands' medieval trilogy, begun on 1996's Tunes of War, Excalibur makes no apologies for its adherence to a decidedly German sound. Unfortunately, perhaps Grave Digger should be made to apologize for lyrics like "I am the devil in disguise, I bring the evil to your life, listen, listen - listen what I say, my name is Morgane Le Fay," repeated over, and over, and over. . . . Let's be clear: bad German accents on unpleasant sounding voices, singing borderline embarrassing lyrics over cliched riffs and mid tempo beats do not the essential metal record make. Even if there is an almost happy-looking skeleton warrior on the album cover (Hel -- "he's not happy, it's vicious glee!").
I do like parts of songs, particularly the Queensryche-type chords, progression, syncopation and rhythm between the guitars, vocals and drums on the chorus of "The Spell" ("I feel my end is near I think I have to die"), and the most of "Avalon" generally. But this is not a technical band by any stretch of the imagination. Grave Digger do riff (opening picking on "Lancelot"), and double-bass abounds ("Tristan's Fate"), but it so just doesn't do it for me in an overall sense. And, if you know me, you know that the appearance of Hansi Kursch on "Mordred's Song" really doesn't help matters one bit.
"I respect Grave Digger. Relative to the Backstreet Boys, they rule." I respect Grave Digger. I honor what they do. Relative to the Backstreet Boys, they rule. They are clearly so unabashedly metal they are tough to criticize. But this is Metal Judgment, where metal bands must be measured against one another on their relative merits. So I'll leave it at this: while Grave Digger themselves may be honorable metal warriors, Excalibur is quite a ways down on the list of albums I'm gonna spend my spare time listening to.
Hel's Review:
As a general rule, I like albums with a concept behind them. Excalibur is, of course, about the story of the sword and King Arthur and all that. Which is pretty cool subject matter. So I was pretty psyched when I got this cd and saw its cool cover artwork. I couldn’t imagine it not being great. And here, is where Hel makes her first mistake. Expectation can be a horrible thing.
The album opens with a mood-setting piece entitled, "The Secrets of Merlin," which is not very metal at all. An instrumental invoking sounds of instruments of yore, the track gets heavy overtones toward the end of the song. It’s actually quite nice. The mood is shattered, as it should be, by the metalness of the opening bars of "Pendragon."
"I was pretty psyched when I got this cd and saw its cool cover artwork. I couldn't imagine it not being great. Expectation can be a horrible thing." On paper, it’s all great. Incessant drums, well-wielded axes. In actuality, there’s a lot to like. Lots of unique, non-metal instruments and melodies - beautiful and enchanting. But the vocals... The vocals are usually what makes or breaks a band for me. Perhaps that’s why I’ve grown so fond of death metal vocals - there’s only one way to sound, and that’s somewhere between Cookie Monster and a garbage disposal. There is no such uniformity once we deviate from that vocal style. Since Grave Digger is not a death metal band, they naturally deviate. Unfortunately, the end result is that I find most of the vocals (of course with the exception of any guest vocalists) on Excalibur sound like the singer is gurgling with a dead cat.
There are some exceptions. "The Spell" alone almost makes me bump my rating up a skull. This song is fantastic, and throws a big spotlight onto what this band could otherwise sound like. But the vocal lines on "Tristan’s Fate" re-emphasize the reason I considered knocking that skull off in the first place. The entire song is so anthem-y I have a headache by the time it’s done.
"Most of the vocals on Excalibur sound like the singer is gurgling with a dead cat." Track after track, I try to get over my feelings about the vocals, try to focus on the great aspects. Then I get to "Emerald Eyes." This song is fantastic, but I can’t shake my personal dislike for the vocals and am distraught by the thought of what the song could be.
I know that some people may think I’m nuts, but that’s my prerogative. So while I do enjoy the odd vocal line, on the whole the vocals are really what ruin it for me. Although the idea of power metal with nontraditional vocals seems appealing, it falls flat here. Under other circumstances, Excalibur would be a four skull album, but today is the day a band falls from Hel’s grace.
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