Here is the first of a very long stretch of retro reviews for 1986. Turns out, there's a lot I want to review! This article will be all about German metal, as I guess the metal scene there really picked up through the middle of the decade. I will also be following up on albums that I checked out last year, so expect a few links to previous articles. At the very least, it makes for a solid slab of thick, crunchy metal!
Let's kick things off with the Queen of Metal herself! While their first album got them some fans and their second pushed into some heavier territory, True As Steel definitely leans more toward a bigger, more commercial sound. With new guitarist Niko Arvanitis, they forge another slab of metal that tries to go big, and sort of succeeds.
Right off, the production is thicker, going for this massive wall of sound meant to fill arenas. Unfortunately, it kind of buries Doro's voice. There are times where there is so much reverb on it, it sounds like she's singing in a cave. However, this bigger production makes their songs feel more cinematic in style, as they are often telling stories with the lyrics. The performances are certainly tight, especially when they play the faster songs, and there are some neat ideas, but I think the production gets in the way more than it should, making it hard to really enjoy the songs on their own.
That being said, once you get used to it, there really is a lot to enjoy. "Fight for Rock" and the title track are solid anthems, "Love in the Danger Zone" and "Love Song" are decent ballads, and I rather liked "Vorwärts, All Right!" for having good energy. Having the closer "T.O.L." be instrumental is a curious choice, but over all the album is not bad.
This is another band I've often seen get grouped with Grave Digger and Running Wild over the years. They started off as Avenger, releasing an album and an EP. I listened to them last year, but ended up not reviewing them as I felt I didn't have much to say about them. They're not bad, just some pretty average German heavy metal. After a name change, they decided to pick up quite a bit of thrash metal energy.
It really is quite the shift, right from the get go. The first handful of tracks definitely sound like very early Slayer and Megadeth, eager to go fast and play some very aggressive riffs! The opener "Scared to Death" starts off with this ominous, symphonic swell, but then blasts right into high speed fury. "Deceiver" gets even thrashier, while the title track and "Hand of Glory" ease up things a little, but retain a very thrashy attitude. It's not until "Raw Energy" that the band slows down to something more typical of Judas Priest, but it's right back to speed metal for "Echoes of Evil." Overall, the album remains pretty fast and aggressive, with few exceptions. The biggest deviation was the CD-only bonus track "The Scaffold," which starts with some nice acoustic guitar playing before getting into a more doom metal sound as it plods along pretty well.
It's hard to know how much I like this album. I'm not a big Slayer or Megadeth fan, but there is more melody here than on Hell Awaits or Killing Is My Business. "Scared to Death" and "Hand of Glory" in particular lean a little into Metal Church territory, so I liked those the most. At the very least, it's not a boring album as they play with incredible energy and precision. While the Avenger material wasn't bad, those songs definitely feel like a different band compared to what they've done here, so perhaps the name change was justified.
Speaking of Grave Digger, I enjoyed their sophomore effort, though it was pretty rough stuff, overall. Bassist C.F. Brank joins the band, but it's the same recipe as before as they blast through another chunk of 80s heavy metal.
While much of what worked on Witch Hunter sticks around, with plenty of chunky riffs and shreddy solos, I feel like this album is less experimental and more interested in settling into a conventional metal style. However, I think they're comfortable with what they've created, making for a more consistent album overall. Once again, they channel Judas Priest and Accept, and I found I liked the ones that leaned more Accept, like "Heaven Can Wait" and "Paradise." "Fallout" even has a dark atmosphere as they discuss the destruction of nuclear bombs. The strange instrumental "The End" that closes the album is really the only piece that seems different, going for a more cinematic little song than anything resembling rock or metal.
However, some tracks do feel kinda paint-by-numbers. "Let Your Heads Roll" is a pretty standard song about rock 'n' roll, and "Love Is Breaking My Heart" is a very typical power ballad that any other band could have written. While I don't know whether or not it's better than Witch Hunter, I would say that this one is more accessible. Whether or not that's intentional, I don't know, but I do know that they would push for more accessibility with their next album.
Simplifying their name to just Digger, and replacing Peter Masson with Uwe Luwis on guitars, Grave Digger were certainly courting a more mainstream audience (if the robot duck flexing his arm on the cover art wasn't a clue itself). I wasn't able to find out if this was something the band wanted to, or if they were pressured by their label/manager/etc. In any case, the result is a very curious mixed bag of songs.
It's a weird album where their efforts for a more poppy sound are only on a few tracks, while others retain their furious speed-metal sound, making for a very clunky listen. Things start with "Wanna Get Close," which sounds like a very typical 80s glam metal rocker for MTV, as does "Stay Till the Morning," and the title track wanders into AOR territory. But then you have songs like "Lay It Own" and "Shadows of the Past" that are full of high-tempo energy, making me think of their messy first album. Even the mid-tempo songs like "Moonriders" and "Stand Up and Rock" feel more like typical Grave Digger than anything radio friendly. Chris Boltendahl switches his singing style based on the song, trying to be clean for the more accessible ones, but roaring as usual for the others. While there have been a few keyboards in the past, the synths are quite prominent here. They're cheesy, but not out of place. I did like "Don't Leave Me Lonely," as the uptempo parts made me think of Walls of Jericho-era Helloween, but overall, this album is an awkward listen. Part of the problem is that the band doesn't seem to be as into things unless they're doing the fast songs, leaving some rather uneven performances (though the production is quite nice).
I can see why fans would be frustrated with this album. While it does have some of the Grave Digger they know and love, it feels compromised in its efforts to find a bigger audience, which it never did. After this album, the band broke up, and Chris and Luwis focused on a new project called Hawaii. That group only ever recorded a demo, but as they carried on, they decided to pick the Grave Digger name again and reboot themselves in the 90s. I'll probably get to those at some point, as I am curious, but it may take some time before I get back around to this band.
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Let's finish this article off with these German legends. While Metal Heart was successful, it certainly leaned towards a more commercial sound, which ended up being a mixed bag in terms of quality. Accept decided they weren't completely satisfied with that and decided to go back to their gritty roots with their next one. They also decided to focus on a strong, anti-war theme, considering it a stupid game, like Russian Roulette.
Not that all the songs talk about war, as they cover other topics typical for them: monsters, empowerment, and masculinity. They definitely get right to it with the opening track "T.V. War," a solid speed metal track to get things going. However, songs like "Monsterman," "It's Hard to Find a Way," "Walking in the Shadow," and "Man Enough to Cry" lean into some very typical 80s metal. They're not MTV fodder, but there certainly is a strong AC/DC vibe on these songs. The title track gets rather somber, as does the 7 minute "Heaven Is Hell," showing the band's range. One thing they did keep around was the emphasis on gang vocals, appearing on most of these songs, giving them a more anthemic touch.
While I do think this is an improvement over most of what was on their last album, I also find there is isn't a whole lot that stands out. It's a good pick-and-mix of their various staples, and it's all played well enough, but it's hard not to feel like I've heard them do each of these better on previous (or later) albums. It's not a bad album, and perhaps something of a refocus for the band, but not much more.
