Together with Running Wild, early Helloween, Rage and Sinner, Grave Digger spearheaded Teutonic Metal in the early 80's, and provided immortal hymns to the scene on their hard-hitting debut 'Heavy Metal Breakdown' with the title track and 'Headbanging Man'. The core and figurehead of the band is the charismatic frontman Chris Boltendahl, who with his unique voice has made his own mark on every album of the Totengräber The compilation Exhumation - the early years now takes a wistful look back to the eighties with a fine selection of new recordings, but not only at the debut and the follow-up albums Witch Hunter and War Games - but also presents Shoot Her Down, a delicacy that opened the very first demo in 1982, and Stand Up And Rock, a piece by Stronger Than Ever that was once released under the more commercial banner Digger - today a sought-after record! Furthermore, My Private Morning Hell and Yound And Dangerous are 2 bonus tracks on the record - the first new songs of the gravediggers since Return Of The Reaper and official harbingers of the upcoming album!