Grave Digger
Healed By Metal

See you again if you don't die.

Starting a review with such a clichéd joke isn't the best, I know. But when it comes to Grave Digger, being clichéd, or for others being consistent, has become a trademark. I must also admit that I approached this new release from the Digger with very low expectations, anticipating an album that would be quite predictable. Indeed, it seems that for the past few years, Chris Boltendahl's group has been resting on its laurels. If we want to go back in time and look for an album that contains all the elements to be considered a true reflection of Grave Digger's characteristics, we must return to 2003, the year "Rheingold" was released. This concept album, based on the Nibelung Saga, was played and described excellently by the German combo. A singer in great form, a devastating rhythm section, and songs that alternated between melodic and catchy choruses with verses and pre-choruses that gave you chills. But then?

From 2003 to now, Grave Digger's releases have always ranged between average and good, with albums attempting to revive the spirit of the medieval trilogy (The Clans Will Rise Again - 2010), others trying to recapture the energy of their beginnings (Return Of The Reaper - 2014), and others being pointless concepts that seemed to be released just to show fans that Grave Digger was still alive and kicking, yet lacked inspiration, despite being musically sound (The Last Supper - 2007, Clash Of The Gods - 2012). However, it should be added that Grave Digger's genre is not exactly one that can be constantly renewed, and therefore sooner or later, it's inevitable they would fall into recycling songs and themes, rather than being forgotten by fans. Put this way, it seems like a sort of survival of the fittest, but that's how I've always seen it. This latter point, if we want, plays in favor of Grave Digger, but not enough to exempt them from a final judgment. In fact, the main reason this group is known is because of the voice of its charismatic leader, and founder, Chris Boltendahl. The reason is simple: a raspy, almost irritating, powerful and unmistakable voice. Over the years, naturally, this power has gradually decreased, and in recent listens, it seemed like hearing an increasingly weak Boltendahl, tired, aided in the choruses, always a band trademark, by second voices.

The release of this "Healed By Metal" therefore carried with it many, many doubts about what would come out. Starting with the title, which is one of the most obscene and tacky I have ever read in my life, I would have expected from groups like Manowar, but not from Grave Digger. The cover, on the other hand, is always very beautiful and rich in details, as has been the group’s custom for the last ten years.

What was expected before listening, unfortunately, is confirmed. Well-structured songs with powerful choruses and sharp, gritty riffs, and others boring and predictable, irreparably already heard. We have for example the Titletrack, created to become an anthem in concerts, very successful, though with a rather childish chorus "Healed by metal, we rock!", or even "Kill Ritual", fast and devastating as expected from a group like Grave Digger, and still "Free Forever", more melodic in the chorus, with an acoustic break in the middle, but with excessive references to "Terminal Velocity" by Saxon especially in the rhythm section. Of course, the tacky song couldn't be missing, and in the middle of the album, we find "Ten Commandments Of Metal" (I challenge you to find a tackier title), good but nothing more. "Laughing With The Dead" is a failed attempt to create a rocky and powerful mid-tempo like "The Bruce" in its time, while the previous "Hallelujah" features a nice chorus and great energy, with a bass in great shape. The two bonus tracks, "Kingdom Of The Night" and "Bucket List", are decidedly beautiful and would not have at all looked out of place on the CD, taking the space of other more useless and skippable songs.

What remains at the end of the listening is the feeling of having finally found Grave Digger in a more fitting space for their attitude, finally setting aside the various concept albums, where the group had given their best in the late 90s, and where they had recently lost inspiration. What forces me to give this album 3 stars is the fact that Boltendahl and company never push beyond the biennial (or triennial in this case) effort, that is, an album made just to show they're still in the scene (as mentioned before), but never fully satisfies. I could make this same argument with Saxon, or Accept, but the difference is that the latter know how to make an album and still have the inspiration, something that in my opinion, Grave Digger has partially lost over the years. "Healed By Metal" is therefore absolutely a good album for any self-respecting Speed/Heavy Metal fan, but it fails to reach more than a pass due to sounding like any Grave Digger album from 2003 to today, anonymous. Fun yes, but anonymous.