If there’s one thing you cannot accuse Grave Digger of, it’s of being unproductive. Since their debut in 1984, and despite a six year hiatus that spanned from 1987 to 1993, they’ve so far released 16 full albums if you include the 1987 ‘Stronger Than Ever’ album which was released under the name Digger. So this, my friends, makes ‘Return Of The Reaper’ their 17th studio album. And between these studio albums, they’ve also released EP’s, compilations, live albums….
Upon listening to this album, it seemed as if I had been placed in a time cocoon, and had gone back to the mid eighties. Grave Digger’s sound certainly has made some evolutions, incorporating some power metal influences, but what they bring us here is almost old school Teutonic metal. It’s mostly fast paced songs they bring us here, with some seriously good guitar work, both the riffs as the solo’s, the vocals are good for Boltendahls doing, and the bass guitar is also very good. Just listen to the beginning of ‘Satan’s Host’, where it almost sounds like Mr. Kilmister is at work.
A very good album for a band that I’d personally never would have thought would still exist today.