 |
| The Reaper | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 2 November 1993 | |||
| Recorded | 6 August – 8 September 1993 | |||
| Studio | Karo Studios, Hamburg, Germany | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 47:29 | |||
| Label | GUN | |||
| Producer |
| |||
| Grave Digger chronology | ||||
| ||||
The Reaper is the fifth studio album by German heavy metal band Grave Digger. It was released on 2 November 1993 via the label GUN Records. This was the band's return after a long hiatus, released seven years after their previous album Stronger Than Ever .
A new line-up was formed except for the band leader, Chris Boltendahl and guitar player Uwe Lulis. The latter had convinced Boltendahl to release a new album in the first place, which was why he later on tried to get the name Grave Digger when he parted from the rest of the band (after the release of Excalibur). In this album there was a change towards darker lyrics and faster songs, as well as the start of the trend of featuring the Grim Reaper on the cover. The album cover image itself is a "Dance of Death" woodcut by 19th century German artist Alfred Rethel. Much of the material was written in the late 1980s, during Boltendahl's short-lived project, Hawaii.
All songs written and arranged by Grave Digger, except track 1 (Piet Sielck).
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Tribute to Death" (Intro) | 1:28 |
| 2. | "The Reaper" | 4:16 |
| 3. | "Ride On" | 3:32 |
| 4. | "Shadows of a Moonless Night" | 3:55 |
| 5. | "Play Your Game (And Kill)" | 3:25 |
| 6. | "Wedding Day" | 3:53 |
| 7. | "Spy of Mas'On" | 3:59 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 8. | "Under My Flag" | 4:46 |
| 9. | "Fight the Fight" | 2:46 |
| 10. | "Legion of the Lost (Part II)" | 6:18 |
| 11. | "And the Devil Plays Piano" | 4:01 |
| 12. | "Ruler Mr. H" | 3:38 |
| 13. | "The Madness Continues" (Instrumental) | 1:32 |
| Total length: | 47:29 | |
Grave Digger is a German heavy metal band that was first formed in 1980 by Chris Boltendahl and Peter Masson. Emerging from the early-to-mid 1980s heavy metal scene of their native country, Grave Digger has been referred to as one of the so-called "big four" of German power metal, along with Helloween, Rage and Running Wild.
Heart of Darkness is the sixth studio album by German heavy metal band Grave Digger. They showed a much darker and more aggressive sound with this release than any of their previous albums. All of the songs have dark, lyrical concepts such as hate, death, betrayal, etc. The title track is inspired by the Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness. A music video was made for "Circle of Witches".
The Grave Digger is the tenth studio album by German heavy metal band Grave Digger. It is considered the darkest album the band has done, along with 1995's Heart of Darkness. The lyrics are about dark concepts, some are inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe.
Excalibur is the ninth studio album by German heavy metal band Grave Digger, and is the final album of the Middle Ages Trilogy. It tells about the story of King Arthur and the knights of the round table.
Tunes of War is the seventh studio album by German heavy metal band Grave Digger. It is a concept about the Scottish struggles for independence from England, from the medieval conflicts between its clans in the 11th century through to the Jacobite rebellion of the 18th.
Knights of the Cross is the eighth studio album by German heavy metal band Grave Digger, released in 1998. It is the second album of the Middle Ages Trilogy.
Rebellion is a German heavy metal band. It was formed in 2001 when guitarist Uwe Lulis left Grave Digger in 2000, taking ex-Grave Digger bassist Tomi Göttlich with him.
Shakespeare's Macbeth – A Tragedy in Steel is a 2002 concept album by German heavy metal band Rebellion, based on the story of William Shakespeare's play Macbeth. The album has many spoken passages.
Sagas of Iceland – The History of the Vikings Volume 1 is a 2005 concept album by German heavy metal band Rebellion about the Icelandic Sagas.
Witch Hunter is the second studio album by German heavy metal band Grave Digger. It was released on 10 May 1985 via Noise Records.
War Games is the third studio album by German heavy metal band Grave Digger, released on 1 February 1986 through Noise Records. The official lyrics of the album have only been released with the 1994 Japanese re-release.
Condition Red is the fourth studio album by the German power metal band Iron Savior. It continues the science fiction story that the band introduced on their debut album Iron Savior and continued on Unification, the Interlude EP, and Dark Assault. It is the last album to feature keyboardist Andreas Kück and bassist Jan-Sören Eckert.
Miklagard – The History of the Vikings Volume 2 is an album by German power metal band Rebellion, and the second part in their Viking trilogy. It is the first album with female guitarist Simone Wenzel. The vocals on "Vi seglar mot Miklagard" are contributed by Charles Rytkönen.
Unification is the second studio album by the German power metal band Iron Savior. It continues the science fiction story that began on the first album Iron Savior. It is the only album to feature former Gamma Ray and Freedom Call drummer Dan Zimmermann.
Stronger Than Ever is the fourth studio album by German heavy metal band Grave Digger. However, they changed their name to just "Digger" for this release. Retrospect Records, a little-known record label, very briefly issued a re-release of the album on CD in 2005. The CD was released with presumably no involvement from the band and is considered a bootleg. The CD is no longer available and the only official versions of the album that were released by the band are the vinyl and cassette versions. To this day it remains the only album in Grave Digger's catalog to not receive an official CD release. "Shadows of the Past" borrows two lyrical lines from "Yesterday", a song released on their 1984 album Heavy Metal Breakdown.
Symphony of Death is an EP released by Grave Digger.
Uwe Lulis is a German guitarist. He is the key member and producer of heavy metal band Rebellion since 2000 and is currently one of three guitarists of German band Accept. He also played guitar in Grave Digger for about 13 years, and co-wrote many songs during his time in the band.
Arise: From Ginnungagap to Ragnarök – The History of the Vikings Volume III is a concept album by German heavy metal band Rebellion and the last part of the Viking History trilogy. This album tells the history of the Norse Gods and Norse religion.
Clash of the Gods is the 16th album from German heavy metal band Grave Digger, which was released on 31 August 2012 via Napalm Records.
Healed by Metal is the 18th studio album by German heavy metal band Grave Digger, which was released on 13 January 2017 via Napalm Records. This is the first album to feature new keyboardist Marcus Kniep as The Reaper since H.P. Katzenburg's departure in 2014.
