Special report by Mark Gromen

Neither Chris Boltendahl nor myself are native Norwegians, yet our third meeting of ’08 is on neutral ground. His band GRAVE DIGGER ventured to NYC for a one off gig and I’d made the annual pilgrimage to Germany for the Bang Your Head festival, so we’re all even. Truth be told, Ballads Of A Hangman, the new album (the first for Napalm) is worthy of travelling thousands of miles! Always the gentleman, Herr Boltendahl welcomes BW&BK; into his hotel room, despite the fact he’s just reached town.

Even though he’s a frontman, the grey haired singer is happy to hear the album characterized as ‘guitar oriented.’ “Last year I felt some stagnation,” Boltendahl confesses “I said to Manni (Schmidt, guitar), ‘Let’s get a second guitar player, to bring some fresh ideas into the band.’ I think it was the best idea I’ve had in the last ten years, since Manni joined the band. When we were in the studio, the three of us (including new recruit Thilo Herrmann) sat down and said, ‘How are we going to record these two guitars,” because we’d never used it before. Manni thought each guy could play their own riff, because they have their own sound, more or less, and then we could double it. I said, ‘No way! We don’t need two guitar players to do that. Let’s move back to the 80s. Put one guitar on the right (channel), the other on the left and solos out of the middle. The whole record has a live feeling, because you get the impression you are at the front of the stage. The song-writing was about 50-50. I you listen real closely, you can tell which songs Manni did and which ones are Thilo’s.”

A word like “ballads” give the false impression of slower or beautiful melodies, but the ten songs herein (apart from an atypical ‘Pray’ single) are just the opposite. Case in point, the acoustic begun ‘Funeral For A Fallen Angel’ juxtaposed to the aggression of electric guitar. “This song was supposed to be something like ‘Into The Arena’, by MICHAEL SCHENKER (hums staccato guitar riff). I had the idea to put some Spanish (guitar) at the beginning. I saw a black haired girl, crawling on the floor… I’m not sure why, but all the lyrics, I had this Spanish thing in my head (Perhaps his day job is getting too close to his artistic life?)”

Speaking of his desk job for Locomotive, while the self-professed Keeper of the Reaper works for the Spanish label, his band has since moved on, releasing only Liberty Or Death in house. “If you are A&R; for the label and also there with your band, there’s some conflict. In the end, I agreed with the chief of the label that it was better to leave. It’s easier for me to work with a separate label, where I am not responsible for everything, and do my job for Locomotive. (With the band) I can now lean back and let other people do the work. I think Napalm is like Nuclear Blast (band’s home before Locomotive) was ten years ago. It’s not a major company, but they are doing well in North America. I noticed that over the last year and when they became interested, I decided to go there. I also had an offer from Nuclear Blast again, but in the end I thought, ‘Let’s go with someone who is interested, with a smaller artist roster. We signed for two records and one option.”

Although the Hangman lyrics seem to relate to individuals working through condemned lives, be it prostitution, drug addiction, incarceration, Boltendahl insists it’s not a concept record. “We stopped that, having done so many in the past. Last year, when we went on tour with Therion, my wife gave me a present. It was a little book with poems about Mexican criminals. I used this for inspiration and after I’d finished three or four lyrics, I read the lyrics and thought, ‘Those sound like ballads of a hangman.’ I’m singing about people who are telling the hangman their criminal lives. When I presented the title to the band, I never expected they’d all think it was cool, but they did.”

On ‘Lonely The Innocent Dies’, Boltendahl’s voice goes to a lower register, but the standout aspect is a guest female vocalist. “Locomotive has BENEDICTUM on the artist roster. I’m a big fan of Veronica Freeman. She has a great voice. I wanted to some metal thing (duet) like NICK CAVE did with KYLIE MINOGUE (‘Where The Wild Roses Grow’). The lyrics are very evil. I called her and asked if she’d be interested.”

Another interesting aspect is the aforementioned single, sounding so different from its surroundings. “That song represents Grave Digger on the other side,” as the singer sees it. “In the past, we did songs like that, especially in the 80s. If you listen to it, it’s very commercial, but 100% Grave Digger. It doesn’t represent the complete record, because the record is more guitars, more metal, more speed and more aggression. ‘Pray’ is something I like a lot.”

Personal favourites led the band to recording a disc closing rendition of THIN LIZZY’s ‘Jailbreak’ (on the digi-pak). “At first we decided to do two different cover versions. The first was ‘Razmanaz’, by NAZARETH and I wanted to do, from Wild Dogs, ‘Psychoradio’ (off Reign Of Terror). It’s a real different track, but Stefan (Arnold, drums) said, ‘Are you crazy? I can’t play that. That’s Deen Castronovo (ex-OZZY)!’ So we decided to do ‘Overkill’ (MOTÖRHEAD) and Manni said ‘Razmanaz’ was a boring song and he wanted to do some Thin Lizzy. So we did ‘Jailbreak’ and ‘Overkill. If you try to sing Thin Lizzy songs, then you realize what a great singer Phil Lynott was. His vocal lines were completely different from mine and it was a little bit of work to get it together.”

However, the most striking thing about Ballads Of A Hangman might be the cover art: comical, stunning and including the trademark Reaper figure. It’s the kind of striking artwork that makes people want to buy the album, even if they don’t know the band/music (at this date, are there any such folks). “I told the artist, ‘I want a cover like in the 80s, like Andreas Marshall. Can you do it?” He said, ‘No problem.” Some is painted, some is digital and he put it all together on the computer. He’s a guy from Hungary, Gyula Havanscak. He did (our albums) Liberty Or Death and The Last Supper, plus I know him from my work with Locomotive. Normally he’s a digital designer. It was Hell to work with this guy, because he’s a real artist. Sometimes he didn’t answer my e-mails for four or five days, with the deadline getting nearer, but it turned out great.”

Future Grave Digger plans, according to the singer, include “Touring, touring, touring…After the holidays at home with the family, in mid-January we start a European tour. In March we go to Russia again and play Sweden cruise, on a boat, in April. We’ve started booking festivals. We’re playing Gods Of Metal (in Italy) next year and we’re in negotiations with Wacken 2010 to celebrate our 30th birthday party there. Next year is only touring. I hope we get an offer to get back to the States. I don’t want to do a club tour to 100 people (a night). I feel a little too old for that. You have to do another and another, the next time you get 200, then 300. By the time I get 400, I’ll be 60!”

Watch Grave Digger's 'Ballad Of A Hangman' video below: