Grave Digger

Grave Digger is a German Heavy Metal band founded in 1980 around Chris Boltendahl (song), who will be the only permanent member of the band. After a pair of demos and an appearance on a compilation, it was in 1984 that the first Heavy Metal Breakdown album was released, quickly followed by Witch Hunter in the same vein and then War Games considered more commercial. During 1986, the formation was renamed Digger. Stronger Than Ever , which wants to be more accessible in order to reach a large audience, is ultimately a failure and only leads to a separation at the end of 1987. The group temporarily re-formed as Hawaii before returning permanently as Grave Digger in 1991. Chris Boltendahl was then surrounded by guitarist Uwe Lulis (who remained in this position until 2000), bassist Tomi Göttlich and drummer Jörg Michael (ex-Rage, who later appeared at Running Wild and Stratovarius). The Reaper, in 1993, marked the return of Heavy from the beginnings. He was followed two years later by a darker Heart Of Darkness. In 1996 and 1998 respectively, Stefan Arnold (battery) and Jens Becker (bass, ex- Running Wild), rhythmic section still stable today. The second half of the 1990s also saw the publication of the "medieval trilogy", a series of the three conceptual albums (Tunes Of War, Knights Of The Cross and Excalibur) in a more Power Metal register and sometimes considered the culmination of Grave Digger's career. It was also at that time that the keyboardist H.P. Katzenburg was integrated. 2000 marks the arrival of Manni Schmidt (ex-Rage) in the guitar to replace Uwe Lulis. The exits then continue to run regularly with more or less success. A new (and latest) change of guitarist takes place in 2009, the place being attributed to Axel Ritt. After Return Of The Reaper in 2014, it's H.P. Katzenburg's turn to leave the adventure. He is replaced by Marcus Kniep, who is currently only active live. Exhumation (The Early Years ) (2015), which revisits some of the 80s titles, as well as the eighteenth album Healed By Metal (2017) are made in quartet.
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