GRAVE DIGGER To Release 'The Living Dead' Album In September; 2019 European Tour Announced

Veteran German metallers GRAVE DIGGER will release their new album, "The Living Dead", on September 14 via Napalm Records.

A headlining tour, dubbed "Tour Of The Living Dead", will launch in Hannover, Germany on January 11, 2019 and finish in Tel Aviv, Israel on February 9, 2019. Support on the trek will come from BURNING WITCHES.

Tour dates:

Jan. 11 - DE - Hannover @ MusikZentrum
Jan. 12 - DE - Andernach @ JUZ Live Club
Jan. 13 - CH - Pratteln @ Z7
Jan. 14 - DE - München @ Backstage
Jan. 15 - DE - Aschaffenburg @ Colos-Saal
Jan. 16 - DE - Saarbrücken @ Garage
Jan. 17 - DE - Bochum @ Zeche
Jan. 18 - DE - Glauchau @ Alte Spinnerei
Jan. 19 - DE - Neuruppin @ Kulturhaus Neuruppin
Jan. 20 - NL - Rotterdam @ Baroeg
Jan. 22 - DE - Hamburg @ Markthalle
Jan. 23 - DE - Berlin @ Lido
Jan. 24 - DE - Bamberg @ Live Musik Club
Jan. 25 - DE - Regensburg@Obertraublingen @ Eventhalle-Airport
Jan. 26 - DE - Memmingen @ Kaminwerk
Jan. 27 - DE - Ludwigsburg @ Rockfabrik
Jan. 28 - FR - Paris @ Petit Bain
Jan. 29 - UK - London @ The Underworld
Jan. 30 - BE - Vosselaar @ Biebob
Jan. 31 - FR - France @ [to be announced]
Feb. 01.02 - ES - Bilbao @ Santana 27
Feb. 02.02 - ES - Madrid @ Mon Live
Feb. 03.02 - ES - Barcelona @ Razzmatazz 2
Feb. 09.02 - IL - Tel Aviv @ Gagarin Club

GRAVE DIGGER's last album, "Healed By Metal", was released in January 2017 via Napalm Records.

GRAVE DIGGER frontman Chris Boltendahl spoke to Get Ready To Rock! about what inspires him to write new music. "I would say that we are inspired by our own creativity," he said. "As you well know, we have been playing this style of music for many years now and every single member of this band is a much-accomplished musician, so, at the end, what we do is simply play the type of music that we love — the music we grew up listening to. We are lucky to have acquired our own style over the years and that, I believe, is the most important thing to have. When people say to me, 'Oh, you sound like this or that band,' my response to them is, 'Well, we sound like GRAVE DIGGER. Thank you very much.' [Laughs]"

Chris also talked about how the fact that most of GRAVE DIGGER's current lineup has been intact for almost a decade affects the band's songwriting process. He said: "The core members have been playing together for more than twenty years and that certainly makes things easier when bringing new music to life, but, at the end of the day, it all boils down to good quality control, you know? I have to really feel that a certain song deserves to be released under the GRAVE DIGGER moniker — if not, then we simply discard it. We create many riffs when working on a new album but not all of them are good enough to make it to a GRAVE DIGGER album. The quality level in the decision-making process is very high indeed. Because our music is pretty guitar-oriented, we place much focus on the quality of the riffs we choose to utilize and so the decision-making process is very tough indeed."

GRAVE DIGGER is:

Chris Boltendahl - Vocals
Axel Ritt - Guitar
Jens Becker - Bass
Stefan Arnold - Drums
Marcus Kniep - Keyboards