GRAVE DIGGER

 HEAVY METAL BREAKDOWN          1984          (BMG)
- Standouts: 'Headbanging Man', 'Heavy Metal Breakdown', 'Back from the War', 'Yesterday', 'Legion of the Lost', 'Tyrant', 'Heart Attack'
I'm a bit of a newcomer to Grave Digger, which is baffling because I'm sure if I'd heard pretty much any of their albums way back when I was a teenager, I'd have been an instant fan of them. It's not like they're unknown or forgotten either - these German metallers have been going at it since 1980, with their debut Heavy Metal Breakdown hitting the scene in '84. But yeah, I wasn't even aware of them until I saw them at Bloodstock festival in 2011 - and despite the fact I liked their set, I still didn't go anywhere near Grave Digger again until I bought 3 of their albums from the same eBay seller in 2024 (1996's Tunes of War, 2009's Ballads of a Hangman and 2010's The Clans Will Rise Again)! And even then, I only bought those albums because they came up as a recommended purchase based on my history! Anyway, I'm glad I made those purchases because I've been hooked on Grave Digger since. It took me until my 30s to actually own any of their albums, but whatever!! I guess some bands - even relatively well-known ones - can slip anyone by for years.

I'll say that in general this band do have a specific kind of sound that they've stuck to for many years. But I don't think they moulded that particular sound until the '90s (more about that with later albums in this post of course!), so Heavy Metal Breakdown isn't necessarily the most typically Grave Digger-sounding record if that makes any sense. Don't expect a specific conceptual historical theme throughout the lyrics, and don't expect a strong power metal influence either. Many bands hadn't found their niche with their debut - just look at Judas Priest as a prime example of this. But hey, that doesn't mean you should skimp on HMB! If you look traditional heavy metal and '80s speed metal, you're mostly likely gonna really dig this. I do! Aye, musically this CD is very much an old-school trad/speed metal affair, meaning it's automatically right up my street even if I think this band got better in the '90s. The songs probably weren't breaking new ground within the world of heavy metal in 1984 what with thrash metal taking off at practically this exact point in history, but that doesn't mean it can't still be great fun - which it is.

I feel like I need to talk about vocalist Chris Boltendahl first however. Someone at some point on my favourite YouTube channel Sea of Tranquility described his voice as a cross between Udo Dirkschneider of Accept and Lemmy of Motorhead but with his own added flair. I personally think that's an excellent description - Chris really does have a weirdly unique voice in that he has that high raspy style of Udo and the gruffness of Lemmy, yet still manages to be instantly recognisable whenever he opens his mouth. To be honest, I think Chris is the sort of vocalist that will turn some listeners off this band. If you don't like his vocals from day 1, you're probably gonna struggle with this entire catalogue. He's not really a good singer, but he also makes Grave Digger, well, Grave Digger. I love his vocals, but I became an instant fan of this band after I bought those 3 CDs last year.

Back to the album though, opener 'Headbanging Man' is a pure denin n' leather, balls to the wall '80s speed metal number through-and-through. It's kinda like a poster boy track for this style, a bit like Saxon's 'Heavy Metal Thunder' or Anthrax's 'Metal Thrashing Mad' ('cos that first Anthrax record was SPEED metal, not THRASH metal!). Big riffs, a fast tempo - but not blazingly quick either. 'Headbanging Man' rules, end of. The title track ironically contains no musical breakdowns (were they even yet a thing in metal in 1984?!), but is a jolly good time all the same. The chorus is surprisingly anthemic, and if it wasn't for Chris' vocals, it could easily pass for an Accept number. Great stuff. 'Back from the War' tries to be a bit moodier with it's monk-like chants and slow, doomy intro. It comes off as comedic more than anything, but in the way that only '80s heavy metal can pull off. And for that reason it's cool! 'Yesterday' is an attempt at doing a ballad I suppose, and again, I like it! It's a bit goofy and difficult to take seriously, but the added keyboards have been implemented rather well alongside Chris' vocal arrangements, which are very memorable. 'We Wanna Rock You' probably is as stupid as you'd expect to be lyrically, but musically it's thankfully still 100% heavy metal, and fits in comfortably alongside everything else on the album. Also, 'Legion of the Lost' is one of the best tracks here. It starts off with a ballad-like acoustic melody, but soon transitions into one of the heaviest numbers on the record. Maybe this track is a sign of what was to come years down the line? 'Tyant' and 'Heart Attack' keep the classic speed metal ball rolling until the end. The production is raw, but that's part of it's charm. And it's certainly not murky or seriously flawed in any way to me.

I really don't have a lot of serious problems with Heavy Metal Breakdown. Even the Rolling Stones cover, '2000 Lightyears from Home' manages to fit quite well here, mostly because it's played in the same style as everything else. However, I wouldn't be surprised if Grave Digger have fans that consider it inferior to many of their later albums from the '90s onward because like I said in the beginning of this review, they really found their feet and became better musicians for it. So HMB feels somewhat basic and primitive by comparison - but I've been a massive fan of  '80s heavy/speed metal with raw production and cheesy lyrics for well over half my life now, so I still largely enjoy this to the same extent as many of their later albums. You can't expect 'em to come out with a record like 2003's Rheingold from the get-go!! Either way, settling on an overall score was a tad tricky. I was thinking maybe an 8.4 originally, but I looked at some of my other review scores of other albums of similar-ish style and had a little rethink. For example, I don't think HMB is any better than Blind Guardian's Battalions of Fear (which I gave an 8.2), and I certainly don't think it's better than, say, Armoured Saint's March of the Saint or Saxon's Power & the Glory. And let's not forget the fact I think Grave Digger would pump out stronger albums in the future. Although Heavy Metal Breakdown might not be one of the GOATs of it's subgenre, it's a bloody good time if you like your metal as pure and honest as this.
Adam's rating: 8.2/10

Bands I love (in no particular order) #1 - Annihilator

Next month the earMusic label are set to reissue 3 albums from Annihilator's back catalogue - King of the Kill (1994), Refresh the Demon (1996) and Remains (1997) as well as a compilation of bonus songs titled More Noise Vol. 1. Since school I've been a huge Annihilator fan, and although I've owned all 3 of those '90s albums on CD for as long as I can remember, I've pre-ordered both the new King of the Kill and Refresh the Demon reissues on vinyl, because I've always thought it'd be nice to have them as LPs without spending an arm and a leg on older pressings. Maybe I'll get the Remains vinyl too someday, but I don't know if I like that album enough to own 2 copies. I've also pre-ordered the More Noise compilation on CD, 'cos I've got collector's syndrome that's why! Anyhow, I've been on another Annihilator binge lately after hearing the news of these reissues, and it's made me want to talk in general about them. In fact, I think I'm gonna start a series of these posts about my favourite bands, although I won't be sticking to any sort of schedule with them. They'll just be occasional.

Anyway, I started listening to Annihilator when I was maybe 14 years old (this would have been around 2006). They were one of the first metal bands outside the mainstream I really went out of my way to get into. By mainstream, I mean the big names like Black Sabbath, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest etc., the sort of bands that everyone's heard of. Weirdly enough, I specifically remember how and where I heard of Annihilator - the UK Classic Rock magazine did a heavy metal special issue covering the history of the genre, and examples of a few different bands within different subgenres. Under thrash metal were the obvious names like Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth along with bands like Exodus, Testament and possibly Kreator (my memory's not that good!). Oh, and Canada's Annihilator of course. Even though I had albums from all these more underground bands by the time I left school (underground by my standards at that time anyway), for whatever reason that little write-up about Annihilator is what made me go out and order a copy of 1989's Alice in Hell, their debut very soon after. Me and my mate used to go to our local HMV shop in town almost every Saturday to buy metal CDs with our pocket money and paper-round earnings, but we had to order in our 1998 Remastered copies of Alice in Hell. I even remember us picking them up the following weekend! It's weird how my brain remembers stuff that seem so insignificant, but considering the die-hard fan I am of this band, it probably wasn't an insignificant memory at all even if I didn't know it at the time.

I was of course, blown away by the technical prowess of Alice in Hell, and the speed and precision of the songs. But also the melody - guitarist and Annihilator brainchild Jeff Waters wasn't trying to write the heaviest, most aggressive thrash you'd ever heard. No, he was effectively writing what I consider to be 'thinking-man's thrash' with the album - maybe not lyrically, because the lyrics can be somewhat silly here and there (but still awesome all the same). But musically there's classical guitar-style playing and melodies to accompany the tight riffing and insane picking speeds, as well as a charming atmosphere. And the snarling vocal style of ex-DOA punker Randy Rampage (RIP) balanced out the nerdiness of the music perfectly! In short, this album blew me away, and songs like 'Alison Hell', 'W.T.Y.D.', 'Burns Like a Buzzsaw Blade', 'Human Insecticide' and my absolute favourite 'Word Salad' are still regular plays for me today despite the fact it was over half my lifetime ago when I first heard them (I'm 33 now).

Naturally buying that classic debut led me to purchasing the rest of their discography, although I probably didn't achieve that for a couple of years because I had limited money until I got a full-time job aged 18! I had to be more choosy with what I bought when I was still in education for that reason, but I definitely had Alice in Hell, 1990's Never, Neverland as well as 2007's Metal by the time I finished school in 2008. Of course, the more Annihilator albums you listen to, the more you realise that calling them a 'band' isn't necessarily true in all cases. Endless line-up changes have been a thing with Annihilator since forever, with only Jeff Waters being present from their inception and playing on every album, as well as writing near enough every single song (with a few exceptions where various singers have contributed lyrics and the fact he sometimes wrote songs with invisible member John Bates). In reality then, Annihilator has always been more of a 1-man project, with various collaborating musicians along the way. I don't know if that was how Jeff originally envisioned things; I was always under the impression it just turned out that way because keeping a band together can be very difficult. That or he was just unlucky.

As a fan, I never took much issue with the regular personnel changes. It just makes the discography that more interesting. The important thing is that Jeff still writes the songs regardless of who's singing, and for that reason every album sounds like Annihilator because they always have Waters' stamp on them. His guitar playing and technique is instantly recognisable to me. His riffs and solos don't sound like Dave Mustaine's or Jeff Hanneman's. They sound like Jeff Waters'!! Yet no album feels like a cut n' paste of the last. They all have that unmistakeable Annihilator feel of technical speed metal guitars infused with touches of melodic leads, but some have more groove than the last, others might be faster than average, and are just heavier. And of course, with guys like Randy Rampage, Joe Comeau, Dave Padden, Coburn Pharr, Aaron Randall as well as Jeff Waters himself all handling lead vocals across various different records in this catalogue, you can expect a lot of different vocal styles. Also, even though Jeff is known primarily as a guitarist, the man knows how to write a good bassline! Yep, he plays bass on many of the records too.

Ah yes, the albums. Here's a quick summary of each and all of the major releases. Obviously I already reviewed them in detail a while back, so for more info check my Annihilator post:

• ALICE IN HELL (1989): Absolute classic as already described above. My first and favourite Annihilator record. - 9.4/10
• NEVER, NEVERLAND (1990): Rock solid follow-up to the debut. Maybe a tad more melody in the songs, catchier too. But still 100% technical speed metal nirvana. Coburn Pharr's vocals are slightly more accomplished and less juvenile than Randy Rampage's. For many people (including Jeff Waters himself) this is Annihilator's best. I won't argue with that despite it not being my own number 1. - 9.2/10
• SET THE WORLD ON FIRE (1993): More radio-friendly than before, but still full of unmistakeable Annihilator chops all-round. Includes the woeful ballad 'Phoenix Rising', but fortunately most of the other experimental songs are still fairly decent. 'Knight Jumps Queen', 'Set the World On Fire', 'Bats in the Belfry' and 'No Zone' are stone-cold classics. Aaron Randall's voice worked well for this album, but I'm glad he didn't stick around afterwards. - 7.4/10
• KING OF THE KILL (1994): One of my favourite speed metal albums of the '90s. Apart from drummer Randy Black, Jeff runs the show now and even takes over vocal duties. He has more grit in his voice than either Pharr or Randall. Songs like 'Annihilator', 'Hell is a War', 'Fiasco' and the title track kick arse, while others like '21','Bad Child' and 'The Box' add a new level of groove to the usual ingredients. Great album. - 8.2/10
• REFRESH THE DEMON (1996): Follows a fairly similar formula to King of the Kill in that Jeff still handles guitars, bass and vocals, but still has enough going for it to stand on it's own. 'Refresh the Demon', 'Ultraparanoia', 'Syn. Kill 1', 'The Pastor of Disaster' and 'A Man Called Nothing' are absolute classic brands of Annihilator speed metal. 'City of Ice' and 'Hunger' are underrated deep cuts. 'Innocent Eyes' is an embarrassingly terrible acoustic ballad, but other than that this one also gets a big thumbs-up from me! - 8/10 
• IN COMMAND - LIVE 1989-1990 (1996, live album): Strong collection of live material from the 1989-1990 period, so both Randy Rampage and Coburn Pharr feature here. The Never, Neverland era was a big time for the band live, because they supported Judas Priest on the Painkiller tour. Anyhow, not exactly the greatest live album of all time because the performances don't differ all that much from the studio counterparts (then again, maybe that's a good thing?), but still great for fans like myself. - 8/10
• REMAINS (1997): The last album with Jeff as lead vocalist for a while, and the only one not to feature a drummer! Yep, this is Jeff's attempt at industrial metal. Thankfully a lot of the songs do still sound like Annihilator (albeit in a weaker format), but some really aren't good - namely 'Bastiage', 'Wind', 'No Love' and 'I Want'. On the other hand, 'Tricks and Traps' and 'Reaction' are 2 of the greatest songs Jeff ever recorded! The rest of the album is mid for me, but not bad. - 5.9/10
• CRITERIA FOR A BLACK WIDOW (1999): Somewhat overlooked Randy Rampage reunion album, not quite a classic but still very solid. Potentially some of Annihilator's fastest/heaviest material can be found here, choice cuts for me are 'Bloodbath', 'Punctured', 'Back to the Palace', 'Nothing Left' and 'Sonic Homicide'. Not every song is on point, but overall an underrated effort. - 7.8/10
• CARNIVAL DIABLOS (2001): Liege Lord vocalist Joe Comeau takes over the mic and is in my opinion the best and most metal vocalist Annihilator ever had. And the songs are diverse and showcase all of Jeff's best songwriting techniques. Blazing thrashers ('Denied', 'Battered', 'Hunter Killer'), killer old-school speed metal ('Epic of War', 'The Rush'), strong mid-tempo grooves ('Time Bomb', 'The Perfect Virus')... even an AC/DC-esque hard rocker ('Shallow Grave') and a catchy joke number ('Chicken and Corn')! This album has it all. Still not perfect, but very strong indeed. - 8.7/10
• WAKING THE FURY (2002): Second and last album with Joe Comeau, and it's largely a speed metal tour de force! Tighter and more consistent in style than Carnival Diablos, this is one of my favourite metal albums from the nu metal-dominated early millennium. The fuzzy guitar tones and production take some getting used to, that much is true. But really this is what metal is all about for me. - 9/10
• DOUBLE LIVE ANNIHILATION (2003, live album): The definitive Annihilator live package, at least so far anyway. 2 CDs of pure energetic heavy metal goodness from the Joe Comeau era! Speaking of, Joe sings all these tracks brilliantly, regardless of who sang what originally. Songs from every album to date at the time (even Remains) makes for a jolly good time to be had indeed! - 9/10
• THE ONE (2004, EP): New vocalist Dave Padden doesn't give the best first impression here. His alternative metal and sometimes emo-ish vocal style doesn't mesh well with Annihilator; 'The One' is a pathetically slushy ballad, and 'All for You' is a horrible modern metal mess. On the plus side, 'Weapon X' is a blazing number. Overall though... this is meh. - 4/10
• ALL FOR YOU (2004): Sadly a lot of this album continues in similar fashion to The One EP. The fact it has 'All for You' and 'The One' on it doesn't help, but also 'Holding On' (sang by Waters) somehow manages to be even worse!! Dave Padden feels like a misfit here and some of the lyrics are absolutely terrible, particularly on 'Dr. Psycho'! A few strong tracks ('Demon Dance', 'Bled', 'Rage Absolute') thankfully hint at what was to come on the next album, but aren't enough to save All for You's poor status. - 4/10
• SCHIZO DELUXE (2005): A massive improvement over it's predecessor in every single way. Dave Padden amends his vocal style to actually suit Annihilator and the songwriting ditches any of the modern/alternative influences that All for You suffered from. A damn heavy record from start-to-finish with zero ballads, just superb technical thrash mixed with some groove. 8.5/10
• METAL (2007): A disappointment after Schizo Deluxe. Nothing to do with Dave Padden, just some odd ideas here and there and a showering of pointless guest guitarists all over the record. Regardless of how good players like Alexi Laiho, Jeff Loomis or Corey Beaulieu may be, I want to hear Jeff do the guitar solos on an Annihilator record! Also, 'Couple Suicide' (the only song here not sang by Padden, but rather Danko Jones and Angela Gossow) is one of the worst things committed to this catalogue!! That said, I very much enjoy 'Clown Parade', 'Army of One', 'Downright Dominate' and 'Chasing the High'. A mixed bag, but one I can enjoy more-so than not. - 6.4/10
• LIVE AT MASTERS OF ROCK (2008, live album): Decent live album with Dave Padden on vocals. The setlist is mostly oldies although a handful of others from Waking the Fury and Metal do make appearances too. Not as much content as Double Live Annihilation however, and not as good either... but still more than good enough to warrant a purchase for serious fans. - 7/10
• ANNIHILATOR (2010): Awesome return to form, and my favourite of the Padden-era. This album has the highest number of Jeff Waters guitar solos on it if I'm not mistaken? No proper ballads too, which is always a plus! 'The Trend' is a melodic thrash metal masterpiece if I say so myself, and others like 'Coward', 'Ambush', 'The Other Side' and 'Payback' kick major arse. Plus the Van Halen cover, 'Romeo Delight', is a stupidly fun and energetic way to end the album on! - 8.7/10
• FEAST (2013): A very worthy sequel to the 2010 self-titled. Maybe a little more diverse musically at times (check out the funk metal vibes of 'No Surrender'!), but this is a good thing. Lots of killer modern Annihilator numbers like 'Demon Code', 'No Way Out' and 'Deadlock' to digest. Maybe not as consistent as it's predecessor, but a great album none-the-less. - 8.2/10
• SUICIDE SOCIETY (2015): Although it was disappointing to see Dave Padden exit after Feast, Jeff Waters returns to handling all the vocals (as well as guitars as normal) here for the first time since Remains. He'd continue to handle vocals on all following releases up until 2022's Metal II. So at least you know what to expect vocally in this regard. Aside from the vocals, the songs are fairly similar to what Feast offered, only a bit less memorable this time around sadly. Still a good album however - 'Suicide Society', 'My Revenge' and 'Creepin' Again' are classic Annihilator to me, there's just a little more filler than the last record. - 7.3/10
• TRIPLE THREAT (2017, live album): Note - I don't own the box set version of this album, which contains a DVD - just the 2-CD version. The live performance at Bang Your Head festival in Germany is enjoyable enough, if a little short at 11 songs. Strong performances from the band however, with Jeff fronting the band once again. The other CD however, is an unplugged studio recording of old numbers, and frankly I don't think classics such as 'Stonewall' and 'Bad Child' work at all in an acoustic mode. Naturally, most of these unplugged tracks are ballads, but I was never a fan of 'Holding On', 'Phoenix Rising', 'Innocent Eyes' etc. in the first place!! - 5.5/10
• FOR THE DEMENTED (2017): The best Annihilator album since Waking the Fury! For the Demented takes all the best elements of the Padden-era whilst retaining an irresistibly old-school metal quality - maybe the most retro Jeff's sounded since the '90s. Even the ballad 'Pieces of You' is a good one! Call me a fanboy all you want ('cos I am one after all), but this is A+ Annihilator for me. - 8.9/10
• BALLISTIC, SADISTIC (2020): A scorcher of a record that rarely stops to catch it's breath. Some of the songs share deliberate similarities to oldies musically ('Dressed Up for Evil' is similar to 'World Salad' from Alice in Hell, 'Psycho Ward' is similar to 'Stonewall' from Never, Neverland, 'Lip Service' is similar 'Knight Jumps Queen' from Set the World On Fire), but darn it these songs rip! Some modern classics to be found with barnburners like 'Armed to the Teeth', 'The Attitude' and 'Out With the Garbage'. If this is the last Annihilator album of original songs we get, well, things could've been a lot worse. - 8.7/10
• METAL II (2022): Fairly pointless remake of 2007's Metal, unless you never heard the original. The guitar work remains the same, but the drums have been re-recorded by Dave Lombardo and new vocals from Stu Block. Dave is obviously Slayer's legendary drummer so I can't knock his performance (even if Mike Mangini was equally great on the original Metal) but Stu Block sometimes over-sings these tracks and sounds a little OTT compared to Dave Padden's original vocals, and not in a good way. And I liked Stu with Iced Earth! The real problem is, Metal was never the best Annihilator record to begin with. Redoing it with other musicians won't change that fact. - 5/10

A strong catalogue then, even if there are a couple of misfires here and there. Aside from Metal II of course, I don't think Jeff ever made the same album twice. Each and all of these albums have their own soul. Even the weakest ones like Remains and All for You still have some good songs on them. If you can only own 1, Alice in Hell or Never, Neverland are the obvious choices. But I'm tired of people online claiming those first 2 albums to be the only worthwhile Annihilator records. I mean, hello?! King of the Kill, Refresh the Demon, Carnival Diablos, Waking the Fury, Schizo Deluxe, Annihilator, Feast, For the Demented and Ballistic, Sadistic... I love all these albums too!!

In total I've only seen Annihilator twice live. I was supposed to see them way back in 2013 in Manchester with Dave Padden, around the time Feast came out. But I was sick at the time and couldn't face the drive to Manchester (not a place I like going to for concerts, but in the case of Annihilator I was willing to go - had I been healthy anyway). According to Setlist.fm and my Feast review they also played a gig in 2015 close enough for me attend in 2015 (when I was on holiday in America) and also in 2018 (when I was on holiday in Prague)! Anyway, I didn't get to see them until 2017 when they played Bloodstock festival that year. Jeff Waters is just about one of the tightest players I've ever seen. I then saw them at a headlining gig at KK's Steel Mill in Wolverhampton 2019, and this show was awesome. It was a mid-week concert so it wasn't as packed as it should have been, but Jeff put on a hell of a performance, and the setlist was fucking great for fanboys like myself. Lots of deep cuts were played, such as '21' from King of the Kill, 'Ultraparanoia' from Refresh the Demon, 'Burns Like a Buzzsaw Blade' from Alice in Hell and even 'Tricks and Traps' from Remains. That really made my night. Needless to say I bought lots of merch that night too! 

Since 2019 I haven't seen them, but then they haven't really toured or played anywhere at all sadly. Sucks really, 'cos I'm pretty sure it was around that 2019 tour that Jeff moved to the UK from Canada. I remember when I first heard about that I automatically assumed that UK Annihilator tours would be pretty regular from thereon, but I was wrong! To be fair, he's opened a recording studio since that UK move and I can only guess that's kinda taken priority over Annihilator for him these days.

Apparently Jeff finished work on the next Annihilator studio album back in June 2023, but I've heard barely anything about it and it's been almost 2 years. We've got those reissues and that compilation coming next month, but there's no news of a tour or any concerts either. Apparently Stu Block is supposed to fill in the vocalist slot at future Annihilator shows, but like I said, the band haven't toured for years now. Here's hoping that changes soon, but we'll see. Either way, I've been cranking Annihilator for more than half my lifetime, and I'll continue to do so.