Clash of the Gods

Heavy Metal German veterans return with a 16th studio album, Clash of the Gods. The first one was released near 30 years ago now, and with the years we have learned how to quickly tell a good from a below average Grave Digger album: by counting the number of what feels to be filler tracks. Good news is, there are few - if any - in this album. Bad news is: the good tracks are not sufficient to make it a top-tier Grave Digger album. Tunes of War, Knights of the Cross, Excalibur, Rheingold are all far superior efforts. If it is still worthwhile for the fans, though? Oh, yes. Most definitely. Since their change of direction with The Reaper (1993), this band has always proposed the exact same formula for half their songs. A generic verse backed by a loud rhythm guitar, followed by a tension-builder bridge coupled with a beat/tempo variation, leading to a cathartic nuclear explosion of a chorus, often repetitive as hell and with extreme emphasis on the last vowel. Come to mind for instance the most famous of them all, Excalibur of course, but also Mordred's Song, The Dark of the Sun, Liar, The Reaper, The Grave Digger... and oh-so-many others. Well, this album is no exception and features several songs structured in that (old and rusty) fashion: God of Terror is the main example, but is very efficient nonetheless and might be great fist-pumping material live. But also the so-so Medusa, or the slow-paced Call of the Sirens, whose opening riff is basically the chorus melody in The Dark of the Sun (this won't be the first time Grave Digger rips itself off, let's be honest). Two other highlights are Walls of Sorrow, a song recalling a lot Lionheart (and to some extent Morgane La Fay), in the sense that the chorus is smoothly sung and not harshly yelled contrary to the rest the song. Unfortunately, this song is no Lionheart... though its ending is powerful enough. And the second highlight would be Home at Last, the last and one of the best tracks of the album, thanks to its utterly infectious chorus which is meant to be sung arm in arm and shoulder to shoulder! To be honest the song itself is empty and only the chorus salvages it. But hey, who cares. All in all what we have here is a more than decent, regular Grave Digger effort, which has its highs and lows. If you are a fan, no problem, this album waits for you, hurry. If you are new to the band, definitely start with Excalibur or Rheingold instead of this one. They will be much better starting points.