GRAVE
DIGGER
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GRAVE DIGGER'S
NEW ALBUM IS READY TO STORM THE STORES IN THE END OF THIS MONTH, NEVER
THE LESS RHEINGOLD IS AN UNBELIEVABLE ALBUM WHICH BRINGS TO YOUR MIND THE
GOLDEN ERA OF EIGHTIES IN WAY THAT ONLY GRAVE DIGGER CAN DO. IN MU HUMBLE
OPINION WE MIGHT TALK ABOUT THE "BEST" ALBUM THAT THIS BAND HAVE EVER RELEASED
TILL NOW. GRAVE DIGGER ARE HERE AND READY TO BANG YOUR HEAD...
1.YOUR PREVIOUS RELEASE “THE GRAVE
DIGGER” WAS THE MOST EXPERIMENTAL ALBUM I’VE EVER HEARD FROM YOU. I MEAN
THAT YOU CHANGED YOUR SOUND A BIT, YOU BECAME DARKER AND MOST OF THE SONGS
WERE MID TEMPO. DO YOU AGREE WITH THE ABOVE MENTIONED? DO YOU THINK THAT
SOME OF YOUR FANS MIGHT HAVE BEEN DISAPPOINTED?
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(laughs), Definitely “The Grave Digger”
album was a return to the roots album. We would like to make an album out
of our influences such as Ozzy, Led Zeppelin, generally the 70s bands.
A lot of fans were surprised and they hardly get used to it. Grave Digger
were not in their best mood during the writings of this record.
1.1 SO YOU ARE SAYING THAT THE WAY
THE MEMBERS OF THE BAND KEEP THE RELATIONS BETWEEN EACH OTHER, AFFECT THE
WAY THAT THERY ARE PLAYING AND COMPOSING MUSIC?
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That’s natural. We are people that
our emotions are a reflection of our music. If you are not in your best
mood, you cannot “work” well.
1.2 DO YOU THINK THAT METAL FANS ARE
OPEN MINDED LISTENERS OR THEY GET USED TO A "SOUND" OF A GROUP, STICK WITH
IT AND DON'T LIKE IT AT ALL WHEN IT CHANGES?
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I think that metal fans are open-minded
but they like to hear metal stuff.. You cannot expect to appreciate your
work if you change 70-80% of your style. If they like True Metal, they
will listen to True Metal, but if you make a Classic music record, I doubt
if they will like it.
2.LET’S GO BACK TO YOUR LATEST RELEASE.
I OBSERVED A STRONG 80S ATMOSPHERE. I’D SAY THAT YOUR NEW ALBUM IS A COMBINATION
AMONG “TUNES OF WAR” AND THE ALBUMS YOU RELEASED BACK IN THE 80S. IS THIS
ALBUM HOMAGE TO THE GOLDEN DECADE OF HEAVY METAL AND TO THE BANDS THAT
ATTRIBUTED THE MOST LIKE JUDAS PRIEST AND ACCEPT? WHAT NEW ELEMENTS CAN
THE FANS LISTEN TO THIS ALBUM?
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This album is back to our roots. We
had a lot of line-up changes, we are free and we begin from point zero.
Everyone it’s 100% free to give his ideas to the band, there is no-pressure
from any member, or Nuclear Blast in the way we are playing, we can do
whatever we want. The fans will see that we are fresh of ideas, we have
brilliant solos, a 120% METAL RECORD.
3.I THINK THAT THIS CONCEPT IS THE
MOST AMBITIOUS YOU’VE EVER DONE. CAN YOU TELL US IN A FEW WORDS WHAT ARE
YOUR LYRICS DEALING WITH?
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Well, the lyrics follow the classical
opera lyrics and we add a “metal” style onto them. It’s a classical concept
based on Ring Of Nibelungen by Richard Wagner.
4.MANY BANDS USE COVER ARTWORKS MADE
ON THE PC. HOWEVER, YOU ARE ONE OF THE FEW THAT STILL INSIST ON THE USE
OF DRAWINGS. ESPECIALLY YOUR NEW ALBUM THAT BROUGHT TO MY MIND THE 80S
STYLE AND ALSO THE “BLOOD ON ICE” ARTWORK. DO YOU AGREE? WHO IS THE ARTIST
BEHIND THIS AND WHICH CHARACTERS ARE REPRESENTED HERE?
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Marcus Mayer is responsible for the
cover of Rheingold. He gave us a computerized artwork first but I told
him to start painting it. The computerized version was too real, and I
wanted to see art not computer animation. In the artwork they are represented
characters from Wagner Opera like Valkyries, Zegrefied, Mighty Dragon and
Mr. Ripper in the middle of the cover.
5.THE SONG “SWORD” IS ONE OF THE MOST
WEIRD SONGS YOU’VE EVER COMPOSED. DO YOU AGREE THAT IT HAS A STRONG MANOWAR
/ BATHORY FEELING?
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(laughts) we are inspired from Manowar,
as you know many bands from the True Metal genre is affected from others.
“Sword” is a song for a story of a mighty sword, we wanted to be that way,
because the music will express to the listener the story It sounds like
a “narrative” song that tell the story of this sword.
6.IN MY OPINION, GRAVE DIGGER AT THIS
POINT HAVE ONE OF THE BEST LINE UP DURING THEIR WHOLE CAREER. HOW HELPFUL
IS IT FOR YOUR ESTEEM TO HAVE SO BIG MUSICIANS WITH YOU? WHOM (FROM THOSE
THAT LEFT THE BAND) DID YOU MISS THE MOST?
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Thank you very much. It’s very creative
when you can cooperate with people who have fresh ideas, people who like
music and they are energetic and put their inspirations to their music.
I miss nobody who left the band, in the recent past if felt (from previous
members) that there is no enthousiasm, no creativity. I felt a burnout
and we had to make a lot of changes if we want to keep Grave Digger alive.
7.UWE LULIS FORMED HIS OWN BAND, REBELLION
AND HAS ALREADY RELEASED 2 ALBUMS. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THEM? HE SAID
TO SOME MAGAZINES THAT YOU HAD MUSICAL DIFFERENCES AND HE DIDN’T HAVE THE
FREEDOM YOU WANTED. WHICH ARE THE TRUE REASONS FOR HIS DEPARTURE? HOW ARE
YOUR RELATIONS NOW?
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Do you really want my opinion about
him…..(short pause and afterwards an ironic laugh). We had differences,
he is doing his thing, I am doing mine. We follow different ways and I
don’t want to talk about it much.
8.YOU ALSO HAVE A MANAGEMENT LABEL.
WITH WHICH CRITERIA DO YOU SELECT WHICH BANDS YOU WANT TO PROMOTE? DO YOU
ONLY HAVE HEAVY/POWER METAL BANDS OR ALL THE GENRES? WHICH BAND DO YOU
THINK IS THE MOST PROMISING?
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We stopped doing this also. They were
very talented bands in the label, that wanted a piece from the “pie” to
the genre. The basic criteria was that they should have their own style
and not immitate other bands. Unfortunately with this label, they didn’t
have a chance to develop, so we thought that it was better if we stopped
it. There are a lot of good record companies and you have to have
a lot of money to promote every group and give it a chance to develop.
It's too expensive.
9.IT’S TOO EARLY I KNOW…BUT DO YOU
HAVE ANY IDEAS FOR THE CONCEPT OF YOUR NEXT ALBUM?
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I have some ideas, I cannot tell you
right now. We must see how the sales of Rheingold gonna go in Germany and
in Europe and we will decide what we will do next. It’s Classified.
10.GRAVE DIGGER EXIST MANY YEARS NOW.
BRINGING TO MIND YOUR WHOLE CAREER ARE YOU SATISFIED OR DO YOU THINK YOU
COULD HAVE DONE BETTER THINGS?
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I am totally satisfied from my career.
I experienced so many different eras of this music, the 80s, the 90s now
we are in the new century. I am proud of what I did with the band.
11.WHICH IS THE STRANGEST QUESTION
SOMEONE EVER DID TO YOU??????
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A lot of people ask me strange questions.
I remember on a 10-time interview a guy told me to tell him something about
the history of Grave Digger. I told him “Man, it’s okay for me to tell
you, but we won’t make it in 10-minute interview, you might consider a
couple of days to the next question.” I prefer more “professional”
questions, than the usual and repeated questions.
Thanks you for your time, I really
enjoyed chatting with you, to be honest I think that Rheingold will be
one of the top True Metal records for this Year.
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Thank you for your kind words Costas,
have a nice evening, se efcharisto, kalynyxta
COSTAS "C.O.B."
MEIDANIS