The Metal Crypt on Facebook  The Metal Crypt's YouTube Channel
Review: Grave Digger - Knights of the Cross
Grave Digger
www.grave-digger-clan.com
Knights of the Cross

Label: Gun Records
Year released: 1998
Genre: Heavy Metal

Rating:
3.75/5


Review online: February 24, 2009
Reviewed by: Bruce Dragonchaser
Readers' Rating
How do you rate this release?

Rated 4.54/5 (90.86%) (35 Votes)
Review

Certainly no strangers to slogging it out year after year, German legends Grave Digger have produced a plethora of quality albums since their inception almost 30 years ago, and while their earlier material mainly consisted of plodding, second-rate Thrash, their progression into full blown Power Metal heroes, much like countrymen Blind Guardian, cemented their position as one of the genre’s most prolific and inspiring acts, and even to this day, barely a year goes by without good old Chris Boltendahl and chums wielding the scythe for yet another slice of gravelly majesty. Back in 1998, when this little item was first unleashed, things weren’t so different.

While not their strongest release by any means, the enigmatic Knights of the Cross, an overblown concept album (one of many in a string of releases) about the Knights Templar and their shenanigans over the course of history, is chock full of everything that makes a Grave Digger record so enjoyable, with piercing leads, delicious harmonies, huge, chant-along choruses, and thunderous double-bass, all slapped together by the aforementioned screamer and his idiosyncratic rasp. Despite a ropy production, songs like the chest-beating "Heroes of this Time", the furious "Over the Sea" or even the writhing "The Keeper of the Holy Grail" are notable additions to the band’s growing roster of standards, with "Monks of War" and "The Battle of Bannockburn", the album’s epic closer, being two of the best songs the band have recorded to date. Still, the album is a little strung together in places, with the shallow production being the main contributor towards its inadequacy against the majesty of Tunes of War, Excalibur or even recently with the fantastic Ballads of a Hangman.

A worthy addition to the Grave Digger discography nonetheless, and, if nothing else is handy, an energetic thunderstorm of Power Metal treats to stick on whilst flicking through Holy Blood, Holy Grail a second time.

More about Grave Digger...
Review: 25 to Live (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
Review: Ballads of a Hangman (reviewed by Bruce Dragonchaser)
Review: Ballads of a Hangman (reviewed by Larry Griffin)
Review: Clash of the Gods (reviewed by MetalMike)
Review: Clash of the Gods (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
Review: Excalibur (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
Review: Fields of Blood (reviewed by Bruno Medeiros)
Review: Healed by Metal (reviewed by Bruno Medeiros)
Review: Healed by Metal (reviewed by MetalMike)
Review: Liberty or Death (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
Review: Return of the Reaper (reviewed by MetalMike)
Review: Rheingold (reviewed by Christian Renner)
Review: Rheingold (reviewed by Sargon the Terrible)
Review: Symbol of Eternity (reviewed by MetalMike)
Review: Symbol of Eternity (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
Review: The Ballad of Mary (reviewed by MetalMike)
Review: The Clans Will Rise Again (reviewed by MetalMike)
Review: The Clans Will Rise Again (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
Review: The Forgotten Years (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
Review: The Grave Digger (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
Review: The Last Supper (reviewed by Christopher Foley)
Review: The Living Dead (reviewed by Bruno Medeiros)
Review: Tunes of Wacken (reviewed by Michel Renaud)
Click below for more reviews
Latest 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Various Books/Zines 



The Metal Crypt - Crushing Posers Since 1999
Copyright  © 1999-2024, Michel Renaud / The Metal Crypt.  All Rights Reserved.