Grave Digger have been around roughly forever and have had fairly consistent success on the continent. Now, with their appeal obviously becoming more selective they find themselves on the Spanish Locomotive record label and they are revisiting their own past in a bid to earn themselves a better future. 

There are four tracks on this EP, two of which are re-recordings of the ballad Yesterday which originally appeared on their 1984 debut Heavy Metal Breakdown. These bookend the EP and the first version is the better one as it features some crunching guitar work and back in the day this would have stood a chance of being a mainstream hit as the housewives may well like it. The orchestral version is fine if a little ho hum. 

The second song is The Reaper’s Dance (note the correct grammar there by me) is excellent. It could almost be classed as power metal with slightly grunted vocals and the insistent riffing is reminiscent of early Iron Savior as indeed is the decidedly Germanic vocal phrasing. Perhaps this tune points the way forward for Grave Digger. 

The other track on the EP is a cover of Led Zeppelin’s No Quarter. To be honest, I have to point out that I really hate Led Zep (hate mail to the webmaster please) but I quite like what Grave Digger have done here. The production values are sky high and the vocals aren’t whiny and annoying! 

Unfortunately the DVD which accompanies this release didn’t come with the CD which is disappointing because it looks to be pretty good. The music portion is recommended and proof positive that Grave Digger are still very much with us.

Let us know your views on 'Yesterday'

Track List

Yesterday
The Reaper's Dance
No Quarter
Yesterday (Orchestra Version)
 

Line Up

Chris Boltondahl - Vocals
Peter Masson - Guitar
Willi Lackman - Bass
Albert Eckardt - Drums