Grave Digger's previous effort, The Last Supper, was disapointing at best, and felt like a letdown in a long successive list of awesome albums since Excalibur, heck since Grave Digger's beginnings for the most part. So I was quite worried to see if the new album would be able to recapture the magic sound that somehow felt lost in The Last Supper.

In short yes, Grave Digger managed to deliver a pretty solid album, much more faithful to their usual sound. It may not be their best album yet, but its definitely in a higher class than the last opus. There isn't anything new but as always the incredible, strong and pounding guitar riffs as well awesome chorus parts. The sound and production is amazing, but that also isn't new with Grave Digger. Chris Boltendahl's vocals are the same as we're used to, with the great vocal melodies (Chris' voice itself being somewhat of an aquired taste) especially on choruses and which I believe are the trademark of this band. This album contains many killer tracks, and the more you listen to it, the more the melodies and strong riffs are carving pathways to your neuronal net. I can still remember the first time my brother tried to introduce me to the band, I told him flat out that I could never could get used to Chris' voice, it lacked melody and clearness at the time. Back then we were listening to Knights Of The Cross and the killer, almost over-the-top choir driven choruses got me interested nevertheless. Since then I'm hooked on this band and I no longer care about Chris' simple and harsh vocal texture. The choruses are there, the great riffing, great song-writing, epic and melodic with strong heavy moments and great solos all make up for that insignificant detail as far as I'm concerned. Ocean Of Blood or Forecourt To Hell, are perfect exemples of the type of killer chorus that once gets in your mind, won't leave it any time soon. While many songs are fast, not all of them need to be, and Grave Digger is also very good at delivering great epic mid-tempo songs. The title track Liberty Or Death or Highland Tears, which still starts furiously to slow down for a big choir oriented chorus that will definitely make you want to sing along. And what a riff on that song ! That's probably the band's secret weapon after the epic factor choruses, the strong, almost mind-crushing riffing. It supports the songs and gives them their ultra-heaviness while the chorus is more a melodic deliverance from the pounding that riffs and drums are exerting on your soul during verses.

All in all this is a very solid album from Grave Digger, way better than the disappointing The Last Supper, but on the other hand its nothing new and while a strong effort, its no Excalibur, an album that can be listened over and over again and for many years to come. Still, its good to see Grave Digger's back with some serious kick ass songs and an album that doesn't contains fillers or boring songs. Great album and if you're a long-time Grave Digger fan, then you can buy it with your eye's closed. If on the other hand you've never heard of the band before, this album is a very good place to start your allegiance to this great Epic Heavy Metal band.