Gravestone "Victim Of Chains" released by IGC with bonus tracks.
Here is another German heavy metal act that barely got any recognition at all. Gravestone is a pretty short-lived German underground heavy metal band that found absolutely zero success with their first two full-lengths. However, with this record, they definitely entered the map of excellent heavy metal bands, for those that are into underground heavy metal, anyway. 1984 was probably one of the most significant years for heavy metal, and while there are better heavy metal albums that were released the same year, this one ranks pretty damn high on the list.
Gravestone here plays very conservative, very straightforward oldschool heavy metal. The songs are all mid-paced, and the song structures are very familiar and typical, with the intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, chorus arrangement. This is no issue though, because Gravestone is a rather savage and pitiless heavy metal band with way more kick and power than most of the bands at the time. The guitars are razor-sharp, the percussion is pretty sharp, the vocals are delivered with absolutely screaming high energy, so the band makes those songs pretty explosive and energetic even though they aren't blasting at a very high speed.
All of the songs are excellent pieces of traditional heavy metal, but some of them have to be highlighted. "So Sad" might be the greatest heavy metal ballad I ever heard, with an absolutely jaw-dropping solo in the second half of the song. What these guys play back and forth in that solo is just absolutely orgasmic, with very little virtuostic stuff (not that they're not technically advanced), but with the melodies over that moving rhythm section. Brilliant stuff, and easily the best song on the record. "For a Girl" is also up there with again, a really long instrumental break that goes through a variety of different stages and eventually explodes into a total heavy metal shredding mayhem. There is also the humorous "Rock 'n Roll Is Easy", whose message is anybody's guess. My interpretation is that it's a satirical parody about the rock 'n roll genre with its excellent and wonderfully flowing, but intentionally dumbed down melodies and rhythm sections.
The musicianship is nothing but excellent, as every band member demonstrates very impressive skills throughout the record. In main focus are the two guitarists Mathias Dieth and Klaus Reinelt, who are just unbelievably good. They might have been two of the best heavy metal guitarists in all of Germany ever, as it is not very often that you hear this amount of beautifully but savagely and wildly executed shredding in a heavy metal album. Their face-offs can only be compared to that of none other than Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing, and they give those two an exhausting run for their money. The drummer is also very good, with his supplemental fills that are most apparent on the song "The Hour". He keeps up the consistency throughout the whole release, so every songs sounds way heavier than it should have in 1984. But who wouldn't welcome that quality in an album, am I right?
The only thing that could potentially be a bit inaccessible for most people is the vocals. Berti Majdan had a very wild and frantic tone, and the thing about him is that he absolutely does not hold back. There is no question about the fact that he absolutely nailed every song as much as they could have been nailed. If all the instruments are this sharp and heavy, the vocals do need to be a bit maniacal. If you like Riot City or King Diamond, the vocals should not be an issue for you, but if you're super hardcore on having the vocals on a very low level of intensity, forget this album.
One last thing needs to be praised, and that's the production. Again, much like Stormwitch's "Stronger than Heaven", this is another one of those absolutely fucking perfectly nailed records when it comes to the production. This sounds better than nearly all heavy metal albums at the time, and even in the later stages of the 80s. The guitars are very sharp and ferocious, attacking your speakers with maximum energy on every note being played. The drums are loud enough and they aren't exactly dull, either. The bass is clearly audible, on a very different, isolated tone in the background so it does not blend into the guitars at all. And of course, the vocals have just the right amount of volume so that they're neither underwhelming nor overbearing. Seriously, these German heavy metal bands knew what they were doing more so than nearly anyone else at the time. I haven't heard one album that would not have had at least acceptable production, if not better.
Gravestone's "Victim of Chains" is certainly one of the greatest not only German heavy metal records of the 80s. Very few albums are this heavy when it comes to the genre at this time. But that doesn't mean this album doesn't kill it on the domain of melody, memorability and virtuosity. It's got it all, my friend. Fans of traditional heavy metal should already be familiar with this masterpiece, but if you are for some completely and utterly unacceptable reason still unfamiliar with it, you're only missing out on one of the best albums of the time period.
Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
