Review by Brian McLean
Mention the name Grave Digger in America and more than likely the image of a monster truck comes to mind unless that person is well educated in the world of metal, then the name Grave Digger takes on a whole new meaning.
With the release of The Last Supper through Nuclear Blast Records, Grave Digger returns back to their roots that helped established them as one of the leading metal bands from Germany during the 1980s along with Helloween and Destruction.
Grave Digger had been working on a trilogy series of releases but hit the pause button by stepping back and releasing The Last... which consists of the Grave Digger basics. In other words the listener will experience, rough and tough pounding German metal.
There are twelve tracks on the standard release where the imported digi pack version contains two additional bonus tracks, "Sleepless" and "Jeepers Creepers."
The listener will more than likely not be prepared for "Passion" which is the disc opener and then the title track. With soothing piano quarter notes, "The Last Supper" is one of the mellowest tracks on the release and yet one of the strongest.
A slow head nodding will ensue while listening.
The calm "Passion" and "The Last Supper” created will be shattered though when "Desert Rose" follows after a fraction of silence thus beginning the pounding of German metal Grave Digger style.
Other tracks that follow like "Grave in the No Man's Land" which has an Accept styled opening riff, "Hell to Pay" and "Soul Survivor" continue the onslaught and the fist pumping and frantic neck exercises. That is if no one is looking.
Reaching the half way point, Grave Digger slows things down a bit with "Crucified" and the moderately paced "Divided Cross" even though there's continues double bass beats.
The tempo picks up and rounds out the remaining portion of the disc with "The Night Before,” "Black Windows,” and “Hundred Days."
The soothing piano resurfaces for "Always and Eternally," the final track of the standard release. It's a grand way to bring The Last... to an end, like saying goodbye and bidding farewell.
The imported version has extremely smooth textured cover with pages containing lyrics, artwork and credits mounted to the inside of the cover. The cover art is actually a nice looking piece of depiction of Christ sitting at the last supper table.
Some may appreciate the artwork and subject matter and others may not but there's no denying the painting for the cover is a beautiful piece of artwork. Here’s a Horns Up to the graphic artist.
As a whole, "The Last Supper" is not a bad way mark Grave Digger's 13th release 20 years after the release of their debut.