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Dal periodo ottantiano alle porte del duemila, la discografia dei Grave Digger ha attraversato tre diverse fasi: la trilogia classica, dall'heavy tradizionale (Heavy Metal Breakdown, Which Hunter, War Games); la trilogia oscura, dall'heavy potente e cupo (The Reaper, Symphony of Death, Heart of Darkness); e la trilogia medioevale, dall heavy epico (Tunes of War, Knights of the Cross, Excalibur). Questo disco, del 1996, rappresenta il primo atto della terza era del gruppo, un'album dove l'atmosfera tenebrosa del precedente "Heart of Darkness" è sostituita dal following bellico ed eroico di questa magniloquente pietra miliare.
"Tunes of War" è composto da tredici tracce di monolitico heavy metal, interpretato dalla voce malsana e sgraziata di Chris Boltendahl, è un'affascinante concept sulla rivoluzione scozzese, un lavoro che alterò bruscamente il modo di scrivere della band, sostituendo le tematiche orrorifiche dei precedenti lavori, con un vero e proprio reportage storico messo in musica. Una rivoluzione, appunto, non solo nel senso lirico del termine: i chorus sono diventati pomposi ed evocativi mentre, a livello esecutivo, i pezzi hanno assunto toni eroici, romantici, talvolta addirittura tragici, come spesso succede nelle trasposizioni musicali di opere focalizzate sull'era medioevale.
Dopo l'intro "The Brave" (rifacimento metallico dell'inno scozzese, con tanto di cornamusa incorporata), l'album si apre con un deflagrante riff e con una cavalcata ornata dall'isterico scream di Boltendahl, che avvia due pezzi dagl'anthem prodigiosi: "Scotland United" e "The Dark of the Sun". "William Wallace" è invece puro speed metal con uno stacco melodico nel refrain, "The Bruce" è cadenzata e marziale, con un ritornello che sembra un tormentone. "The Ballad of Mary" è un lento quasi sinfonico che spiana la strada a tre striminziti episodi d'irresistibile hard 'n ' heavy: "The Truth", "Cry for freedom" e "Killing Time". "Rebellion" è una delle hit di questo disco: aperta da un arpeggio e da un'imponente chorus, esplode poi in un mid-tempo che riserva uno strumentale dal sapore celtico. L'album si chiude con la drammatica outro "The Fall of the Brave".
Chi possiede la versione originale, avrà notato che il booklet è molto ben curato, con tanto di fonti storiche, chiuse nelle sezioni didascaliche che appaiono fra un testo e l'altro. Scelta azzeccata che dovrebbe aiutare l'ascoltatore a scoprire/riscoprire la straordinaria potenza di questo irripetibile capolavoro.
Federico "Dragonstar" Passarella.
Elenco tracce testi e video
02 Scotland United (04:35)
Malcom King
Scots follow you
Into battle
We will go
Conquer Lothian
To the river Forth
Overcome the Angels
Win the war
Defeated Ecgfrith
at Nectan's Mere
Subdued the picts
we feel no fear
Forge a kingdom
Take you down
Cut to pieces
In blood you'll drown
Fires in the sky we saw for 30 days they shone
Fate is on our side forever win the scottish throne
[Chorus:]
United,united, we stand
United-united, forever and ever
Into battle
Kill and fight
Forge a kingdom
Scotland unite
Malcom King
You won the right
Take the throne
Scotland united
It's the year 1018
march for your country
to the battle of Carham
We will spell history
03 The Dark of the Sun (04:32)
Get your steel brothers
We must fight
Hakon tries to steal
Scotish right
Norwegian soldiers on our land
Steal our Islands
We must defend
Their number's too great we can't win
God in heaven
Send a sign
Kneel and pray - the sun turns black
God with us - we must attack
[Chorus:]
In the dark of the sun
[4 times]
Alex king you did
win the day
You bet Hakon and
Proud Norway
We swept them off the battlefield
In their blood they lie
Death is dealed
Their king died on foreign land
United we were strong
we did stand
[Chorus:]
In the dark of the sun
The enemy's defeated run
In the dark of the sun
The battle has been won
07 The Ballad of Mary (Queen of Scots) (04:59)
My fingers touch the solid stones
Strong and cold, they keep me from home
Imprisoned like a wingless dove
Far away from the land I love
Lonely days count lonley years
I have cried a thousand tears
All that I tried to gain
Is lost the effort was invane
At Carberry hill I lost my crown
My husband fled my luck went down
In England's hands I fell
18 years a living hell
The Scotish crown belongs to me
Yet I'm bound I can not flee
With iron claws England holds tight
All is lost no chance to fight
Silence - Silence Everywhere
[Chorus:]
Cold walls are my reward
Lonelyness engulves my soul
I've been true i gave my heart
Stained tears i cried
I long to be free again
To walk in peace again
Scotland cries her queen is lost
Agony's her friend again
08 The Truth (03:50)
Tonight I had a weird dream
I saw a demon eating men
he crushed Skulls to dust
His eyes filled with a black lust
The demon rules the battlefield
Religion rules with pain and steel
God is love
Hell is open
[Chorus:]
Searching for the truth
Searching for eternal life
Searching for the truth
You reach heaven but you're
Headed for hell
I've seen brother fighting brother
I've seen friends kill each other
Love is preached to manking
Just believe death you'll find
11 Rebellion (The Clans Are Marching) (04:05)
Rumours know that rebellion will break out
Bonnie Prince Charles is in the highlands to claim his
crown no doubt
He raised his Standart at Glenfinnen calling to our pride
The Jacobites are gathering I'll be at their side
Armed and ready stand
My rights I must defend
Steel is in my hand
[Chorus:]
The clan's are marching `gainst the law
Bagpipers play the tunes of war
Death or glory i will find
Rebellion on my mind
The town of Edinburgh fell soon in our hands
Defeated the English at the Battle of Prestopans
12 Culloden Muir (04:08)
I walk alone through burning towns
My sword is in my hand
But the battle has been lost
And there is nothing to defend
At Culloden in seventeen fourty six
Scotlands fate was sealed
We wrote a bloody history
Wounds that never healed
[Chorus:]
Fight for death or glory
Fight at culloden muir
Die in pain and anger
Die in pain and anger
I still see Gillis MacBean
Standing wounded from the fight
Back to the wall he fought
And thirteen Redcoats died
But the Clans were beaten and destroyed
Their wives are raped in shame
Prince Bonnie's on the fight again
The rising was invane
We were a people free and brave
Heroes stood tall
But history is mercyless
Now we are to doomed to fall
The battle of culledon
The end of Scotland
14 Heavy Metal Breakdown (04:31)
Metal invasion that's all what we need
Metal dominion that's all what we want
We come to give you rules and principles
What you have to do
We come to shake your hands and legs
As fast as we can do
Heavy Metal Breakdown
Women and children want to hear the noise
Women and children want to feel the beat
Bang your heads as fast as you can
Until you're breaking down
The night is long, the show is right
Bang until you die
Heavey Metal Breakdown
Shake your legs and bang your heads
Heavey Metal Breakdown
15 Witchhunter (03:14)
Have you seen that man
Wrapped up all in black
He waits for his chance
Steps behind your back
He's the raper of the night
Never seen before
There's no warning when he comes
Lock your bedroom door
Jumped the garden wall
Did you hear him howl
Waits outside the hall
Can't you see him frown
Well, this guy is on the prowl
For evil and for lust
If you meet him, pray to god
Or you will be lost
He's a witch hunter, witch hunter
Witch hunter, witch hunter
Through the kitchen door
He's just found his way
Now the clock strikes four
Tonight he will stay
Stepping down your marble hall
He wears a sharpened knife
You can say I told you so
He wants you for his wife
16 Headbanging Man (03:55)
Dressed in leather, dressed in chains
Full of agression, full of pains
Stage is open, light comes up
Metal kids go mad
Count - down is on for the band
Drunken women, drunken men
Show their hands for fucking arse
They bang their heads
He's a man, he's a kid
Wanna bang with you
Headbanging man
He's man, he's a kid
Wanna bang with you
Headbanging man
Metal music blows your heads
And metal maniacs bang to death
The air roars like a machine gun
Banging devils on the run
The show is over, kids are gone
And fucking people lay alone
Drun too much, they're falling down
It's a headbanging crown
He's a man, he's a kid
Wanna bang with you
Headbanging man
He's a man, he's a kid
Wanna bang with you
Headbanging with you
Headbanging man
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