Grave Digger - Heavy Metal Breakdown (1984)^{Release ID: 6728}

"Heavy Metal Breakdown" was the debut album from a four-piece German heavy metal outfit going by the particularly metal moniker of Grave Digger. Now some of you might have heard of them before but I’d hazard to guess that most of you probably haven’t & what’s really surprising about Grave Digger is that they’ve gone on to release around twenty studio albums in their career which puts them right up there with the Motorhead’s of the world. It’s pretty astounding when you consider that they’ve been able to achieve those sort of numbers but have never really broken out of the underground. It’s a credit to their commitment to metal really but it’s also a little sad, isn’t it?

Grave Digger first formed back in 1980 & after making a few appearances at some small festival events they managed to get two songs included on the “Rock From Hell” compilation in 1983 which kick-started their recording career & was the catalyst for this initial full-length effort a year later in October 1984. The “Heavy Metal Breakdown” record is highlighted by a particularly brutal guitar sound which was amongst the heaviest the metal world had heard to the time. But it wasn't just the production that was heavy. There are some truly vicious riffs to be found here as well with several tracks bleeding over into genuine speed metal or even thrash metal territory.

Vocalist Chris Boltendahl has one of those abrasive screaming styles similar to Udo Dirkschneider from Accept although he often sounds like he’s trying to sing like Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson, only with very little success. Overkill’s Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth springs to mind too but just like Udo, Chris is definitely in his element when he’s going for an aggressive balls-out metal approach. He really does sound pretty ordinary when he attempts to actually sing & I’d strongly encourage him to leave that stuff to the Halfords & Dios & concentrate on what he does best which is shriek like there’s no tomorrow.

The rhythm section knows exactly what to do to further highlight the brutal riff assault & from a purely musical point of view “Heavy Metal Breakdown” is right up my alley. The heavier Judas Priest & Accept material is the obvious reference point & those two influences were the primary component of the German heavy metal sound overall really. In fact, if you pay close attention, the speed metal inclusions here seem to be custom-made replicas of Accept’s classic speed metal anthem “Fast As A Shark” while my album highlight “Legions Of The Lost” is a fully fledged thrash metal number that showcases some very powerful bottom-string triplets during the main riff that’ll really get your blood pumping. There are a number of riffs here that leave me with the distinct impression that Kreator may have been heavily influenced by Grave Digger & I could probably show you a number of similarities between these riffs & some of those from the late 80’s output of the Gods of Teutonic Thrash.

But don’t get too excited just yet people. The album’s dragged down considerably by one of the weakest metal ballads you’ll ever encounter in the God awful “Yesterday”. It truly is a repulsive abortion of a song with Chris doing his level best to reduce me to a cowering child just begging for him to cease with the barrage of cringe-worthy vocal cheese. As with most of this material, the lyrics are absolutely appalling & I can’t express just how badly this song effects my enjoyment of the album overall. But it’s not the only weak point either. The classic heavy metal sound needs not only quality riffs but some high quality vocal hooks as well & it’s this area that leaves “Heavy Metal Breakdown” languishing behind the better German debuts. For all the wonderful metal riffage on display, the choruses of most songs are decidedly average with some being downright repulsive. Just check out the song “We Wanna Rock You” for example with it’s chorus of “Wwwweeeeee wanna rock youuuuu….. weeeeeee wanna roll you… roll you”. That’s just total crap, isn’t it, & it’s this element alone that leaves me feeling disappointed at the end of each listening experience.

There was certainly the potential for “Heavy Metal Breakdown” to become somewhat of an underground classic given the sheer heaviness & aggression of this music & the production in particular but the song-writing hasn’t given it a chance with even the best songs on offer failing to capitalize on the quality of the riff assault. The title track is a prime example of what I’m talking about with regards to the vocal hooks as it possesses some great riffs but the chorus seems to give the indication that Grave Digger think their fans are lacking in the intellect department as it’s some lowest common denominator shit in my opinion. The main feeling I'm left with coming out of "Heavy Metal breakdown" is of missed opportunity.