by Mark Gromen

In addition to celebrating 30 years in metal, Chris Boltendahl and his merry band, aka GRAVE DIGGER, utilized their 2010 appearance on the Wacken Open Air stage to launch their next chapter, ripping a page from the past. The whole tartan-themed evening, Boltendahl mimicking Mel Gibson’s role in Braveheart, was captured for the upcoming Wacken United DVD, but also tied in the ’96 Tunes Of War album to their forthcoming Napalm release, The Clans Will Rise Again. In fact, the new CD artwork provided an onstage backdrop that night. In conversation with BraveWords.com, the singer touched on the past, present and future of the classic Teutonic outfit, as well as his fascination with Scotland.

Some were surprised that a three decade career would be encapsulated in one album and the Scottish themed one at that. “Our intention was to start a new period of Grave Digger with Tunes Of War,” states their longtime leader. “The Wacken show, the (upcoming) DVD and the new album, which is more or less a sequel to Tunes Of War, but with a different concept, we wanted to revisit that period of the band. (Tunes Of War) was released in the good times for heavy metal, when people bought records. I don’t think any band will have success like that these days, with the Internet and downloading.”

In addition to a bagpipe marching band, the Wacken stage was graced by other German metal luminaries, also in period costumes: DORO PESCH and BLIND GUARDIAN frontman, Hansi Kursch. “Doro is nearly the same age as me. We grew up in the same century, (our bands) came out in the 80s and there’s some sort of friendship between Doro and me. She invited me to her 25th anniversary (show). For me, it was no question that for ‘The Ballad Of Mary (Queen Of Scots)’ I’d ask Doro. You saw her. She looked so beautiful that night. Not in her typical metal outfit, more like a princess. Hansi is also a good friend. He did some backing vocals on Tunes Of War and Excalibur albums. We have the same booking agent and from time to time, we have good contact. I asked him (to help with ‘Rebellion’) and we even did some rehearsals in the Blind Guardian studio. Funny thing is, he also wore a kilt, but on the wrong side! We saw some footage from the DVD recordings and you can see his underwear. It’s really funny. A show like we did in Wacken, we MUST record! We will add some cool bonus stuff. It will be history, interviews, a picture gallery with 500 photos from the Wacken show, the video, making of and we’ve got some shots of the highlands and stuff that we did 15 years ago, we’ll put into the (concert). We’ve got some movie stuff and it will be a little like The Song Remains The Same (film). The cover is really cool, it’s the first time we’ve had three reapers on the same cover.”

Fair enough, but how does a German band get infatuated with Scottish history? “It started with Tomi Göttlich, our bass player at the time,” explains Boltendahl. “He was a big fan of Scotland. He introduced us to the subject. We did a five day promotional tour for Tunes Of War, in Scotland, and it was amazing. Now we have a good friend who is working at the University of Edinburgh. There’s a good connection between Grave Digger and the Highlands, which brought us back to the topic again. Axel Ritt gave us the final push, saying, ‘I really like that album and it was one of the most successful albums ever did. Let’s do something similar, not like Tunes Of War, but with Scottish history again.” We discussed it, but we didn’t want to do an Operation: Mindcrime #2 type of thing. We want to do an album about Scotland, but different.”

While the initial go round dealt with specifics, people, times and places, The Clans Will Rise Again seems more cultural, dealing with beliefs and tales of everyday life, like repelling Viking invaders (‘Rebels’). “It’s about Scottish mythology and legends,” concurs the German. “We have some people from history, like Robert The Bruce and William Wallace, but on the other side, we are telling people about the mystical highlands and why people are so connected to their own country. If you’ve ever been to the highlands, you can understand why they’re so proud of their country and would fight for their freedom. If you’re standing there, if you’re an open minded guy, you can feel it, the spiritual things that happened there. When I stand in front of Stirling Castle, I get a movie in my head. I feel a bit like William Wallace, fighting with a double head sword. It’s my fantasy, a part of which I try to bring to the people now, Hopefully they will get that feeling in their head when they listen to the album, that they’ll understand a little bit of the highlands.”

While instrumental tracks like ‘The Piper McLeod’ and the opening ‘Days Of Revenge’ are undeniably Scottish influenced, ‘Spider’ seems detached from the motif. “That’s a really cool story. It’s a legend about Robert The Bruce, the night before he fought (the British) at Bannockburn, he spent the night in a cave. He couldn’t sleep, so he stared at the roof of the cave and noticed a little spider. The spider tried six times to spin a web, but he couldn’t. On the seventh time, he was successful and Robert The Bruce said, “That’s like me. I’ve tried to win the war against English six times, the seventh time, I’ll win.” He went into the Battle Of Bannockburn and won. That’s the legend.” So where does Boltendahl get these ideas? “I got some good advice from that guy (in Edinburgh), but I also did lots of research on the Internet. I read a lot of traditional books from Scotland, about legends and mythical things. In the end, it makes a complete concept for the lyrical background.”

Regardless of the source, there’s no denying this is the most aggressive/heavy Grave Digger platter since Rheingold. “2009 was not the best year for Grave Digger,” says Boltendahl, as he begins to explain the impetus. “We did a good album, Ballad Of A Hangman, did the tour and after the tour, Thilo Herrmann left the band because most of the guys in the band didn’t feel very comfortable with him. For me, it was a really sad moment, to tell him, ‘You can’t be in the bad’. He’s a really nice guy and I respect him as a guitar player and was very motivated, but in the end, people in the band said they don’t want to play with him anymore. He brought some freshness to that album. The other guitarist, Manni Schmidt, that was a personal problem, between Manni and me. He wasn’t happy with some of the decisions I made and how I lead the band. It was quite a rising bad atmosphere the last two or three years. Last summer (’09) it exploded and there was a lot of stress between us. After our Mexican trip, last September, we sat in the airport in Mexico City and talked about the new record and the Wacken show and he was, ‘Yes, let’s go, let’s play Tunes Of War!’ We got home and one day later, he sent me an email, ‘Chris, everything is shit. I want to leave the band.’ I thought it was a good decision, because I wanted to do the same to him. Then the other guys said, ‘Call him and see if he doesn’t want to play anymore.’ I called him and asked what was up. He said, ‘It was a bad decision.’ I said, ‘No problem, but I have some rules. Everyone has to follow the rules.’ He said, ‘No problem, send me the rules.’ I sent him the rules and never heard from him. A day before I went on holiday, I heard from him and he said, ‘I’m leaving again.’ I was in a taverna, in Greece and had a list of guitar players with me. I’m not sure how Axel Ritt got on the list, but I called him directly, from Greece and asked if he wanted to play some shows with us. He was into it and when I got back from holiday, I got another e-mail from Manni, but I told him to fuck off. That was the end and I think it was the best decision for Manni and me, as well as the band. We did some shows with Axel and fit very well together. He had to learn 20 songs, including solos, from three different guitar players, in three weeks. He did a great job. I said, ‘What do you think about sending me some guitar licks for a possible future collaboration?’ A week later, I 30 riffs from him! I talked to the other guys and he decided to join us. We started with the song-writing right away, in February. It was fresh, everybody in the band was completely positive, full of energy, highly motivated. We’re hungry! The new record isn’t even on the market and we’re thinking about the next one already. That’s something really positive, after 30 years of heavy metal. All the songs were written by Axel and Jens (Becker, bass). I did some vocal melodies. 90% of the guitar riffs are from those two and I did all the lyrical content.”

Perhaps you’ve seen the video for ‘Highland Farewell’, with its battlefield footage? “It was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. The re-enactors had a hard punch. Stefan (Arnold, drums) and me worked with them and I got blue bruises on my arms and legs, but it was fun. I dreamed of playing Braveheart and there’s a little part in their where I can do my own interpretation. It’s kind of connected to the (old) ‘Rebellion’ video, but this time we weren’t in the Highlands. We tried to make it look like it though.”

In the meantime, the band will be very busy. “We go to Russia again in November and December for five or six shows. Directly after the DVD release in March, we go on tour in Europe with Grand Magus and Sister Sin.” What about a return trip to North America? Any interest? He laughs, “It’s a difficult question. We like to play over there, but every time it’s difficult to find a decent promoter. We’re working on it. Perhaps we can jump on a good package tour, but there are no plans at the moment. First we go on tour in Europe, then we play the festivals, then we go for three weeks in South America next summer and in between, we start working on the next album. We will record it next year, October/November. We don’t want two years between albums. 2012 is my fiftieth birthday and there will be a new album. We’re growing older, day by day. We want to give the people more Grave Digger and I think they like it.” I do!

For more info and sound samples from Grave Digger and their new album, The Clans Will Rise Again, visit their official MySpace page.