War Games

After their second album "Witch Hunter" was a disappointment in every possible way, the Grave Digger fans of the 80s wanted the quality "Witch Hunter" could not deliver. So the band hired their new bass player Chris F. Brank, tried to get their shit together again and wrote their best album to date. In 1986 "War Games" saw the light of day and tried to improve over the mess that was "Witch Hunter". With their third album the band even slightly surpassed their debut "Heavy Metal Breakdown". A good sign, or not? Hmm, to be honest "War Games" is a mixed sort of an album full of good ideas and strong ambitions but it still has too many of the same issues on which "Heavy Metal Breakdown" and "Witch Hunter" suffered before.

If you look at the the songwriting you know what I mean. But I have to be fair, the songwriting appears way more mature than on "Witch Hunter" and "Heavy Metal Breakdown" but at the same time it is still too generic and lazy to really overshadow the issues of the last two records. Grave Digger still relies on its old formula: Some goofy lyrics, choruses that are repeated to death and riffs that, although they hit hard sometimes, are really exchangeable most of the time. But, and this is the most important thing on "War Games", it doesn't suck balls. Oh no, it fucking rocks!

Yes, we may still get silly lyrics like in "Let Your Heads Roll", which builds on a rhythmic but unspectacular riff straight out of the heavy metal handbook of the 80s and a mantra-like chorus that repeats itself 100 times. "Fallout", for example, is a mid-tempo stomper without any silly lyrical ejaculations, even the verses sound exciting, but everything is dressed up in a gown of average riff and drum work and a repetitive chorus. "Heaven Can Wait" drags its way through the verses until it somehow explode in its good but too repetitive chorus line. This all may sound a little harsh but it isn't meant to sound that way, it is just a fact. And although "War Games" isn't revolutionary or a timeless classic that will be placed beside Accept's "Restless and Wild" or "Balls to the Wall", Grave Digger manage to spread a strong attitude never seen before on the previous albums.

Chris Boltendahl sounds as dirty and mean as ever but I cannot deny that he has clearly evolved since his work on "Witch Hunter". He seems to be able now to control the power of his voice so he doesn't sound like a air raid siren constantly. Even his clean singing has matured very well. His evolution is most evident in the typical ballad that every 80s Grave Digger album contained so far, "Love Is Breaking My Heart". The previous two ballads on "Heavy Metal Breakdown" and "Witch Hunter" were half a desaster, I didn't liked "Love Is a Game" very much and I considered "Yesterday" a catastrophe. From the title alone, I predicted the same fate for "Love Is Breaking My Heart", but thankfully I was wrong. Don't get me wrong, even "Love Is Breaking My Heart" is far away from being a fantastic experience but it is a good but saccharine sounding ballad. Piano intro, a whiny verse and an epic chorus. Chris Boltendahl really transports feelings to the listener, the guitars relies on simple power chords with a tasty little solo in the middle of the song. A cliched but somehow epic piece and finally a good ballad, although even this song is still far from being outstanding.

Also Peter Masson sounds way more inspired here than on "Witch Hunter". His guitar work is more refined, even it is garnered with the typical speed metal texture, but his riffs are way more memorable than on "Witch Hunter" or "Heavy Metal Breakdown". In "(Enola Gay) Drop the Bomb", "Paradise" or especially in "Fire in Your Eyes" he throws some cool riffs out in the fields. Masson's solos are also way more refined than on previous albums and have matured very well. Albert Eckardt on the other hand, does what he does best, playing fast and relentless or slow and boring. His drumming was never of the most special kind, but he knows how to play the most fitting beats for every song. In this case, that is enough.

In conclusion, "War Games" is the best album Grave Digger has recorded in the golden 80s and proved that not every legacy starts as exciting and influential as Accept's or Rage's does. Sadly the full potential that slept within Grave Digger wasn't used or pushed to its limits. They tried too hard to gain more success, although I think they had deserved it in any way because the music was fun and written with love. Nonetheless "War Games" is a good but mostly forgotten album by a german legend that split up after this album and started a new project under the name Digger. They tried to commercialise their sound to gain more money, but even this attempt failed. So they changed their name to Hawaii and released a demo under said moniker. After that everyone except Chris Boltendahl left the band. In the end even Chris Boltendahl called it quits and Grave Digger was just a memory in the history of 80s german heavy metal...

It's tough to believe that iconic heavy metal veterans Grave Digger that have released charismatic, creative and groundbreaking records throughout the nineties and early years of the new millennium were once a rather exchangeable heavy metal band with stereotypical lyrics and bland musicianship. Those are the reasons why the band didn't truly take off in its early years and would end up splitting up to come back stronger than ever. War Games was the third and last release of the band's early years before the quartet would change its name to Digger and release the mellower Stronger Than Ever record in a failed attempt at making a commercial international breakthrough.

War Games consists of short upper mid-tempo heavy metal songs that often fail to leave an impression as they pass by without being outstanding in any way. ''Fire in Your Eyes'' is one of the few better tracks with audible bass guitar and a few decently employed organ sounds in the background. ''Paradise'' is the only track from the record that is still played in concert on some occasions and the track convinces at least partially with its epic chorus. The gritty and speedy ''Enola Gay (Drop the Bomb)'' and the gloomy ''Fallout'' that seems to rip off an early Metallica ballad have interesting lyrics that contrast the otherwise stereotypical topics awkwardly.

Ironically, the worst offender on this album is the only track that truly tries to break out of the usual stereotypical formula in form of the piano ballad ''Love Is Breaking My Heart'' that would foreshadow the adult-oriented rock style on Stronger Than Ever. Musicianship and lyrics are saccharine and cheesy. The vocals sound forced and don't blend in at all. The track sounds mildly amusing instead of evoking the melancholic feeling the band attempted to create.

People often make the mistake to declare the earliest records of certain bands as influential masterpieces. Grave Digger prove such a statement wrong as the group released its greatest efforts in its middle and later years. War Games is only interesting for avid collectors of the band and unconditional fans of traditional heavy metal. The record is an improvement over its weak predecessor Witch Hunter but would turn out offering too little too late. Similar bands like Accept were simply more creative back then while Grave Digger kept things too safe to impress. On a positive note, this record is at least concise and consistent with the infamous exception of the terrible ballad plugged in the middle of the release.

As far as I see, this album has fallen into oblivion. On the one hand, this is comprehensible because Grave Digger did not deliver an outstanding performance. On the other hand, this was their first full-length that referred to a historical event, namely the dropping of the atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In view of this, I am not sure whether it had been a clever decision to call this record "War GAMES". It just sounds cynical, especially if one considers that approximately 220.000 people died. However, despite this tremendous number of victims, Grave Digger did not feel the need to devote a full-length to this tragedy. From my point of view, this was the second questionable decision. But let´s put the focus on the music, which mainly followed the traditional way of heavy metal.

First of all, the songs were simply structured, but this is neither good nor bad in general. More serious was the fact that some of the choruses were repeated too often. This applied, for example, to the opener called "Keep on Rockin'". The situation was aggravated by the lyrics of the A side, which did not deal with the nuclear bomb. They were very ordinary. Worse still, they were meaningless. In this regard, I have to mention the opener one more time, but "Let Your Heads Roll" was no better. But as always, the lyrics were of minor relevance. Most frustrating, however, was the unsuccessful attempt to perform an acceptable ballad. "Love Is Breaking my Heart Again" was hard to endure. The predictable composition lacked of originality and creativeness while Boltendahl´s croaking voice sounded completely unsuitable for this type of song. They should have known it. "Love Is a Game", the greasy number of their second album, had also been a disaster. It came as no surprise that they were not rewarded by commercial success.

But the album also had its good points. Most of the songs reached a more than solid level due to their energizing atmosphere. Based on efficient riffs, these pieces stimulated to bang your head. It made no difference whether the band performed an up-tempo track or a slightly slower number. They could handle both while meeting above-average quality standards. This was strongly demonstrated by tunes such as "Let Your Heads Roll", apart from its repetitiveness, or "(Enola Gay) Drop the Bomb". Furthermore, these songs clearly showed that Boltendahl´s voice was destined for heavy metal. Of course, it was still croaking, but aggressive and powerful at the same time. In view of these facts, the positives outweighed the negatives. Fortunately, the passable production did not give cause for any objections.

Summarizing we can notice that "War Games" was not the groundbreaking album that it should have been. The intended effect could not be achieved. Due to the lack of extraordinary songwriting ideas, Grave Digger were not able to occupy the leading position in the rapidly growing German metal scene. Exactly the contrary occured. They were overtaken by a lot of new bands. As a result, the slightly confused group reduced its name and tried to be more successful under the banner of Digger. Not a good idea.

War Games is certainly primitive, but not offensively so. The lack of refined aesthetics turns out to be one of it's greatest appeals. Early Grave Digger is music meant to be played at maximum volume, and if your hair gets stuck in the guitar while headbanging along, so be it. Being archaic German speed metal, it lives or dies by the simple yet catchy nature of the almighty riffs. In the long line of Grave Digger guitarists, Masson is certainly one of the more overlooked. That doesn't necessarily mean he is lacking in chops, as he has a keen ear for the hook and rivals Lulis in crunchy abandon when he feels like it. While not quite as well written as Heavy Metal Breakdown, War Games can be viewed as a stylistic twin to Witch Hunter, which featured a similar incendiary delivery and reliance on enormous, layered choruses.

Boltendahl's impish inflection is dripping in chaotic appeal, and he certainly isn't afraid to try and deliver the operatic choruses - even if his clean tenor is a bit lacking here. Like a fine wine, his gruff barks have only improved with age, but that isn't to discount the raging abandon of his earlier performances either. Most of these songs follow a pretty familiar and well-worn formula, leaning on Masson for the initial appeal, and gathering themselves later on for a concerted upswing during the choruses. There are also keyboards, for some reason. Grave Digger experimented with keyboards on Stronger Than Ever with moderate success, and the case is largely the same here. They help add an epic undercurrent, but at the same make a lot of War Games sound extremely dated. It doesn't help that the lyrics largely revolve around the tense international relations centered around the USSR during the latter half of the '80s. From a historical standpoint, it is interesting to see Grave Digger attempt to tackle a lyrical concept a whole decade before their first true conceptual epic Tunes of War even if it kind of falls through the cracks - save for the scorching "(Enola Gay) Drop the Bomb".

Being the speed metal monster that it is, War Games finds it difficult to emote in a more eloquent manner when the atmosphere calls for it. As such, the requisite ballad "Love Is Breaking My Heart" is really fucking lame. I'd rather take one of the cornball ballads off of Stronger Than Ever, those were at least entertaining on a cursory level. The slower, more mid-paced "Fallout" seems to be in a similar vein at first blush, but it picks up nicely and wouldn't sound out of place on Heart of Darkness or The Reaper. War Games' production is admittedly pretty weak, reminding me of Overkill's debut Feel the Fire, uneven drums and all. In fact, many of Masson's riffs aren't too far removed from Gustafson's early style, proving that early Overkill owed a lot to the burgeoning speed metal scene overseas. While Eckhardt and Brank are admittedly pretty buried in the mix, Grave Digger was wise enough to crank the guitars to the point of absurdity. As such, War Games certainly plays to it's strengths more often than not, and certainly gets a pass regarding the uneven production values; they are easily forgotten whilst singing along to anthemic numbers like "Keep on Rockin'" and "Fire in Your Eyes".

Save for the pointless two minutes of garbled noise that constitute "The End" along with the aforementioned ballad, you could cover your eyes, select any random track, and be ensured that a mighty speed metal behemoth of a riff will thunder forth. From that point of view, War Games certainly does the job admirably. It is a mangled, grizzled mass of stinking, ugly Teutonic grit - and you can't help but love it.

At this point, Grave Digger is frankly abrasive in its adherence to its particular sonic formula. The first three Grave Digger albums encapsulate everything right and everything wrong with the 80s German speed metal scene. On one hand, we have that unholy, but oh so divine, marriage of speed and thrash. On the other? An utter lack of creativity and a suffocating dearth of variety that relegated so many of these bands to obscurity.

If you have heard any Grave Digger from this era you know what to expect, so this review is going to be short. The material on display here is on par with Witch Hunter, so slightly weaker than the debut. One divergence, notable in its adumbration of later historically based albums to come, from the musical stagnancy springs from the lyrics. Grave Digger tackles a small trilogy about the dropping of the atomic bomb, a topic that stands in contrast to their more prevalent Manowar-esque lyrical compositions.

Apart from this trilogy (which is really only different lyrically), Grave Digger does nothing but pound out “efficient” (to borrow Gabometal’s germane term) speed metal number after speed metal number. They only stop for the “ballad,” “Love is Breaking My Heart” which allows Grave Digger to exercise some mellower ideas, ideas refined and better incorporated in their later material.

I question how a band like Grave Digger manages to sellout as they would for a short time after this album, but perhaps the answer lies in their lack of evolution. Maybe the thought was if not progression, regression!

Well Grave Digger turned out one hell of an album in 86.

The opening track, Keep on Rocking, pretty much sets the stage for most of the album. The song is solid speed metal, complete with pretty catchy riffs and vocals. The song also has a great solo. Great opening song. Heaven Can Wait has a heavy midpaced opening. The song is a solid midpaced headbanger with good riffs and a catchy chorus. Fire in Your Eyes picks the speed up again. Great opening riff on this one. Then off we go on another fast as hell speed metal offering. Great song. Let Your Heads Roll is another solid midpaced cruncher of a song with another great chorus. Pure Accept worship on this one. Love is Breaking my Heart is a ballad, but it's done very well. It might seem a little out of place on the album, but it has some great melodic ideas, and a great solo. Paradise is another solid slab o' speed metal. (Enola Gay) Drop the Bomb speeds up even more. Boltendahl really belts out some of these lyrics, very catchy chorus. Fallout is a little faster than it's other mid-paced counterparts, and as with those songs, is Accept worship in all it's glory. Solid song. Playin' Fools is solid fast paced heavy metal. The album ends with The End which is a little haunting atmospheric outro.

Overall the songs on here are killer 80's speed metal or "Acceptish" headbanging midpaced tunes. The lone ballad is pretty well done, and what we are left with is one solid album with no real bad track. If your a fan of 80's German speed metal go pick this up.

This isn't a full concept release, though the seond half of the album tells the story about the Enola Gay, when it dropped the atomic bomb over the Japanese town of Hiroshima. Grave Digger's lyrical interests in songs about war was undeniably noticable ever since their first album. Now, they have put the subject together into story told within 3 songs: 'Paradise', 'Enola Gay (Drop The Bomb)', and 'Fallout'. (I'm not too sure if the last tracks, 'Playin' Fools' and 'The End' have anything to do with the story, I can't find any lyrical relation.) The overall sound is slightly better than 'Witch Hunter', including an unbelievable amount of catchiness that lacked on the previous release, and would define the 'extreamly heavy, yet catchy' Grave Digger sound in later albums to come. Still though, the sound isn't as vicious or as hard hitting as the debute. In fact, it's far more polished than the last 2 releases, still keeping the same amount of heaviness. Once again, GD does another heavy metal ballad, and a much better effort this time as opposed to 'Love Is A Game', on WH. And perhapse even a 'tad' bit more enjoyable than 'Yesterday', only due to it's beutiful piano work in the begining, letting it fade into the heaviness. 'The End' is an outro, Grave Digger's first time including any sort of intro/outro on an album of their's.

Pretty damn good album, catchy and heavy, most likley to please any metal fan. Even though the concept attempt appears a bit amature when compared to let's say...'Tunes Of War' or 'Knights Of The Cross', it was only experimentation with the band at the time and is still worth a good listen.

Best songs: Keep On Rockin', Heaven Can Wait, Love Is Breaking My Heart, Paradise