Grave Digger

Fields Of Blood

NAPALM

Celtic metal. From Germany.

As any fool knows, there’s no better way for a heavy metal band to celebrate their fortieth anniversary than by releasing an album steeped in Highlands battle imagery.

While spending an impressive amount of time banging the heads that do not bang, German crew Grave Digger have achieved moderate levels of notoriety for stand-out songs such as Heavy Metal Breakdown. Fields Of Blood, their twentieth album, really goes for the whole ‘Celtic warrior’ shtick, whipping up quite the fist-pumping riff flurry with the likes of Lions Of The Sea, its title seemingly mistaking lions for seafaring beasts, and storming opener All For The Kingdom. As you’d expect and hope, there are moments of highland-jig melody, mob chants and a smattering of bagpipes, but thankfully these bits of window dressing never get in the way of the album’s main thrust, which is to be metal. Fans of Battle Beast will be delighted to hear singer Noora weighing in on the epic Thousand Tears.

Unapologetically trad and macho, while benefitting greatly from a crisply punchy production, Fields Of Blood almost makes war sound like fun. ■■■■■■■■■■