Grave Digger Ballads Of A Hangman

Grave Digger are one of the most enduring and respected bands devoted to classic and true HM, with a long discography spanning over 35 years. The beginnings of Grave Digger date back to 1980. In 1983, they released their debut album "Heavy Metal Breakdown", followed by their second album "Witch Hunter" in 1985. Festival appearances, a tour as the supporting act for Helloween, and a triple headlining tour with Celtic Frost and Helloween followed before the release of the third album "War Games" in January 1986, all on Noise Records. Then Uwe Lulis on guitar joined in 1987 and the band's name was changed to Digger, under which they released the album "Stronger Than Ever". This album had anything in common with the earlier music of Grave Digger, and it was not accepted by fans. As a result, Chris Boltendahl declared the break-up of the band at the end of 1987. However, the band partially reformed in 1991. Chris Boltendahl and Uwe Lulis, along with two newcomers, Tomi Göttlich and Jörg Michael (Rage, later in Running Wild, Stratovarius), released a comeback record, "The Reaper", returning to the true Heavy Metal roots of Grave Digger. "Symphony Of Death" was released in 1994, with the same line-up as "The Reaper". Then there's "Heart of Darkness" (1995), "Tunes of War" (1996), "Knights of the Cross" (1998), and "Excalibur" (1999), all with the same powerful lineup except for the drummers, Frank Ullrich first and then Stefan Arnold (Capricorn). In 2001, Uwe Lulis left the band and was replaced by Manni Schmidt (Rage); with this line-up they recorded the obscure "Grave Digger" (2001), the epic "Rheingold" (2003), then "Last Supper" (2005) and "Liberty or Death" (2006), both albums not completely appreciated by fans. "Ballads of a Hangman" (2009) is maybe their best with Manni on axe, and it’s also the last, before he is replaced by Axel Ritt.