Part of the Teutonic thrash metal scene that sprang up in Germany in the early 1980s, Grave Digger originated as a speed metal outfit before marrying their love of American Bay Area thrash with melodic power metal in the ’90s. Alongside contemporaries Accept, Helloween, Kreator, and Sodom, the band carved out a huge swath of regional sonic real estate, becoming one of Germany’s elite metal institutions in the ’80s and early ’90s with career-making albums like Heavy Metal Breakdown, Witch Hunter, and Tunes of War.