Grave Digger

Grave Digger are a German^Germany heavy metal^{Heavy metal music}/power metal band formed in 1980. They were part of the German heavy/speed/power metal scene^{Music_of_Germany#Metal} to emerge in the early to mid 1980s.

After various appearances at small festivals, the band, comprising Chris Boltendahl, Peter Masson, Willi Lackmann and Albert Eckardt, recorded a song for the compilation album Rock from Hell in 1983. A year later, Grave Digger released their debut album Heavy Metal Breakdown.

They released their second album Witch Hunter in 1985. After this album was completed, Eckardt left the band; he was replaced by C.F. Brank. Further festival appearances, a tour as the warm-up act for Helloween and, finally, a triple headline tour with Celtic Frost and Helloween followed, and all before the release of the third album War Games^{War Games (album)} in January 1986. Thereafter, Peter Masson gave way to Uwe Lulis; in 1987 the band's name was changed to Digger, the name under which they released the album Stronger Than Ever. This album hardly had anything in common with the earlier music of Grave Digger. It was more an attempt to reach the masses with mainstream rock like that of Bon Jovi or Van Halen. The album flopped, as it was not accepted by fans or the masses. As a result, Chris Boltendahl declared, at the end of 1987, the break up of the band.

However, the band partially reformed in 1991. Christ Boltendahl and Uwe Lulis, along with two valuable newcomers, Tomi Göttlich and Jörg Michael, who had been the drummers for Rage^{Rage (band)} and Running Wild^{Running Wild (band)}, released a comeback record, The Reaper. This album returned to the true roots of Grave Digger. In the same year, the album Best of the Eighties was released; it represented a quasi Best-of-Album of their earlier songs.

The album Symphony of Death^{Symphony Of Death} followed in 1994. In the interim, Grave Digger, now with a new drummer, Frank Ullrich, toured Germany, playing as the warm-up act for Manowar^{Manowar (band)}. In 1995 the album Heart of Darkness^{Heart of Darkness (album)} appeared; it was a very dark album with many influences from the early works of Annihilator^{Annihilator (band)} .

In 1996, Stefan Arnold became the band's new drummer. This year also marked the release of the concept album Tunes of War, which dealt with the early history of Scotland. This album was the first part of the Middle Ages Trilogy, completed in 1999. The second album, Knights of the Cross^{Knights of the Cross (album)}, with Jens Becker as bass guitarist, was completed in 1997 and was about the rise and fall of the Knights Templar. The final part of the trilogy, finished in 1999, Excalibur^{Excalibur (album)} explored the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Shortly after this followed a world tour with the keyboardist Hans-Peter Katzenburg, who later became a permanent bandmember.

The Anniversary Years

In 2000, Grave Digger celebrated their 20th anniversary; to mark the occasion they performed at a sell-out concert at the Zeche in Bochum. Many of the band's most popular songs were played alongside other less well-known ones. There were also a number of different supporting acts appearing with Grave Digger. This concert also marked a defining chapter in the band's history, as Uwe Lulis left a short while before the concert because of personal and business reasons. Lulis finally called his new band Rebellion^{Rebellion (band)}.

A replacement, in the form of the ex-Rage^{Rage (band)} guitarist, Manni Schmidt, was found. Along with him and the new record label Nuclear Blast, the album The Grave Digger appeared in 2001. The works of Edgar Allan Poe served as an inspiration for the lyrics of the new album. Their first live album, Tunes of Wacken, appeared in 2002. This was coupled with the release of their first DVD, Wacken Open Air. About a year later, a further concept album, Rheingold^{Rheingold (album)}, appeared, which centered on the opera Der Ring des Nibelungen by Richard Wagner.

After the successful Rheingold-Tour, the band recorded another album, The Last Supper^{The Last Supper (album)}, with Symphorce and Wizard^{Wizard(heavy metal-band)}; however, unlike previous albums, The Last Supper was not a concept album, despite several songs about the last days of Jesus. A few journalists described the album as the best since Tunes of War or Heavy Metal Breakdown . It was released on January 17, 2005. Less than a month later, the band began a tour with Stormhammer and Astral Doors in Andernach, the birthplace of Manni Schmidt.

October 2005 saw the release of a live DVD recording of the Last Supper Tour and the São Paulo concert. The title, 25 to Live, commemorated the band's 25th anniversary.

Grave Digger released their follow-up to The Last Supper, Liberty or Death^{Liberty or Death (album)} on January 12, 2007. A Double-Headline Tour together with Therion^{Therion (band)} followed, beginning January 17, 2007 in Essen.

In mid August, 2008, the band entered Principal studios with additional guitarist Thilo Hermann to record their 13th studio album entitled "Ballads Of A Hangman". It was their first album with twin guitars.

In February 2009 the band parted ways with Thilo Hermann. In October 2009 Manni Schmidt left the band due to ongoing disagreements with Boltendahl. An old friend of the band, guitarist Axel Ritt was chosen as a temporary replacement for Schmidt to play out the remaining tour dates. On January 12th, 2010, it was officially announced that Axel Ritt is now an official full time member of Grave Digger and they are now working on their next album.

Grave Digger has confirmed to be part of the Wacken Open Air tour held in Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany. This is one of the biggest summer heavy metal festivals, including more than 60 bands.
Current line-up

*Chris Boltendahl – Vocals
*Axel Ritt - Guitar (2010 - present)
*Jens Becker – Bass (1997 – present)
*Stefan Arnold – Drums (1996 – present)
*Hans Peter "H.P." Katzenburg – Keyboards (1999 – present)

Former members

*Manni Schmidt – Guitars (2000 – 2009)
*Thilo Hermann – Guitars (2007 – 2009)
*Uwe Lulis – Guitars (1986 – 2000)
*Peter Masson^{Peter Masson (the musician)} – Guitars (1980 – 1986)
*Tomi Göttlich – Bass (1991 – 1997)
*Martin Gerlitzki – Bass (1983)
*Willi Lackman – Bass (1983 – 1984)
*René "T-Bone" Teichgräber – Bass (1984)
*C.F. Frank – Bass (1985 – 1987)
*Frank Ulrich – Drums (1994 – 1995)
*Jörg Michael – Drums (1993 – 1994)
*Lutz Schmelzer – Drums (1980)
*Philip Seibel – Drums (1981 – 1983)
*Albert Eckardt – Drums (1983 – 1987)
*Peter Breitenbach – Drums (1991 – 1993)
Studio albums

Live albums

*Tunes of Wacken - Live (2002)
*25 To Live (2005)

Compilation albums

*The Best Of The Eighties (1993)
*Die Definitiv Biografie (2002)
*The History - Part One (2002)
*Masterpieces - Best Of Album (2002)
*Lost Tunes from the Vault (2003)

EPs and singles

*1982 Grave Digger Demo (1982)
*Born Again Demo (1983)
*Shoot Her Down (1984)
*1991 Grave Digger Demo (1991)
*For Promotion Only (1992)
*Rebellion - Single (1996)
*The Dark Of The Sun (1997)
*The Battle Of Bannockburn - Single (1998)
*The Round Table (Forever) - Single (1999)
*Yesterday^{Yesterday (Grave Digger-EP)} (2006)
*Silent Revolution - Single (2006)
*Pray^{Pray (Grave Digger-EP)} (2008)

Box sets

*The Middle Ages Trilogy (2002)