Exit Uwe Lulis, enter Manni Schmidt, and the band kicks it up several notches. It is not as good as KotC (few things are), but it's certainly way better than Excalibur. The sound is a lot heavier than before and I mean: A LOT HEAVIER! Schmidt's axe roars like a Formula One car in full throttle. The music is not overly versatile and arrangements are kept fairly simple: a single heavy guitar and some piano work, where needed to emphasize the "darkness" and the gothic mood of the moment. No solos to speak about, but the rhythm guitar riffs and drumming are ferocious. The album is based on Edgar Allan Poe's stories, but there is no common plot, which allows slightly more freedom for Boltendahl to operate. Too bad the lyrics are laughable, bordering on ridiculous (which, I might add, is turning into norm among NWOEPM bands), with lines like "King Pest - be my guest!" and "I feel the hunger, I feel the pain, I like the blood that's running through your veins." Of course, since Judas Priest lowered the plank with lyrics to Jugulator, it's hard to blame poor non-native English speakers from the Faterland. The majority of songs rocks: they're heavy, fast, and quite memorable. "Son Of Evil," "The Grave Digger," "Raven," "The House" (based on "House of Usher"), "King Pest," "Haunted Palace" are all worthy contributions into the metal music of today from these veterans. One thing I must mention is that I HATE when Boltendahl starts getting emotional, he just can't do it, period (a single exception is "The Curse Of Jacque").

RHEINGOLD (2003)

RATING: ****

BEST SONGS: title track, "Valhalla," "Liar"

A very solid album from these veterans of German metal, this time taking on the legend of Siegmund, Brunhilde, and the rest of the German epic characters. Not particularly original or ground-breaking, but very cool. It demonstrates all the usual boons and flaws of Grave Digger: crushing riffs, pounding drums, cool vocal melodies, lack of progress of any kind, silly lyrics, and Boltendahl love 'em-or-hate 'em voice. Keyboards are a little more upfront on this album, and they are very well done. But it all boils down to a handful of very solid songs: title track (excellent chorus), "Valhalla" (album's highest spot), "Giants," "Liar" (crazy frantic riff, similar to the killing machine of "King Pest"), "Murderer," and "Twilight Of The Gods." All songs have catchy choruses, mainly because often they are simply the repeated song titles ("Valhalla," "Giants," "Twilight Of The Gods"). How does it stack up against Wagner? I don't know, but at least it's not 4 hours long. How does it stack up again GD's previous works? Quite good, and one positive comment is that Rheingold is not overly pretentious, at least not as much as Excalibur was. Another good thing is that Chris does not abuse his "melodic" tone, so when it's done, it's done well. So it's good, and a worthy pickup. Based on the pictures in the booklet, the age is starting to catch up with the boys.

THE LAST SUPPER (2005)

RATING: ****

BEST SONGS: "Grave In The No Man's Land," "Hell To Pay," "Divided Cross"

Grave Digger have now comfortably settled in their style of crunchy, riff-based traditional metal. "The Last Supper" is another offering darting out of their camp, and in my opinion it's a step up from the good-yet-uneven "Rheingold." Manni Schmidt finally gives Grave Digger a perfect German sound. In some places the music sounds just like mid-period Rage. In others, like the mid-paced neck-snapper "Grave In The No Man's Land" or the harmonies in "Divided Cross" -- like Sinner. The riff-riding "Soul Savior" and "The Night Before" both start out exactly like Primal Fear (it's almost surprising to hear Chris Boltendahl's opening bark, instead of Ralf Scheepers's soaring scream), and some Silent Force moments can also be heard. In fact, the only song that truly sounds like Grave Digger is Track 10, "Black Widows." So, this is a good album, rocking and melodic, where needed. Unfortunately, again, like "Rheingold," it lacks the wholesomeness of GD's previous masterpieces, like Tunes, Knights, and Grave Digger. The proper atmosphere is not attained: in fact, the lyrics and the story of Jesus, tarnished somewhat after the Mel Gibson's installment, here go by almost unnoticed and without demanding full attention. The fact that Chris STILL can't write a good ballad (which has been the case since 1998 and "Curse Of Jacques") doesn't help either. I truly do not understand why Mr. Gravethroat insists on writing these pompous "operas," if no mood is created to back up the intended story, not to mention any original takes or interpretations of these trivial tales (and it simply does not get any more trivial then stories of Arthur, Ziegfrid, and Jesus). Again, some songs are quite good, even excellent, but the atmosphere is almost never there. And that makes the simple downloading of individual tracks, like "Grave In The No Man's Land" more tolerable, which cannot but hurt the band.

LIBERTY OF DEATH (2006/2007)

RATING: ***

BEST SONGS: “Ocean Of Blood,” “Forthcourt Of Hell”

I guess they were due for a bad one. This album is merely OK on the best of days and in the best of my mood. I simply cannot believe the weak songwriting. Had it been just unfocused, I would say the Boltendahl’s first non-concept, non-theme album in more than a decade suffers from the lack of concentration. But it’s far from just that. The songs are really lackadaisical and boring. The only semi-original interesting riff is in “Forthcourt Of Hell” (my Windows spell check doesn’t know this word… is this a word?), but the mutilated English (“Roman emPEHRor”) hinders my enjoyment of this sole adequate track as well. Everything else, for the lack of the better word, sucks. No energy, no power, no guts, no chances taken. It’s still heavy, Chris still shrieks, Jens still thunders, and Manni still strums heavy sounds, but the product never goes anywhere. Oh yeah, and “Highland Tears” is a poor-ass ripoff of Priest’s “Hard As Iron,” and to write a song about Scotland for GD at this point is just as retarded as for Iced Earth to write a song about “Spawn.” The enjoyable moments include “Ocean Of Blood,” moody “Silent Revolution,” and faster “Shadowland.” “Masada” is easily the worst song I’ve ever heard from the band: it’s just horrendous. The lyrics are at their usual atrocious worst (“Forward the password, it’s freedom’s breath” must be a U.S. Congress memo to its employees, “The king has nothing to declare” must be a letter from Syria to the IRS, and so forth). Let’s hope the next “concept,” no matter how trivial, would inject life into this corpse.