Sodom are thrash metal legends with over twenty LPs and a bevy of EPs and live albums. Not only skilled and vicious, Sodom are workhorses. They have had numerous line-ups changes, members’ deaths, and of course the tragedy of the ’90s. While most thrash bands transgressed metal and experimented with sounds to maintain relevancy in the grunge era, Sodom—and the other Big Four of Teutonic thrash: Kreator, Tankard, and Destruction—stayed the course with filthy, aggressive thrash.
Their latest record, The Arsonist, out June 27 via Steamhammer/SPV, shows Sodom elevating their strengths with unrepentant ferocity. The album is the second studio LP with this current line-up, showing undeniable energy and synchronicity. Bassist and vocalist Tom Angelripper explains how integrated the four have become. “Our drummer Toni (Merkel, drums) also contributed a few songs to the new album. So, now we have three composers and I act as arranger. This makes it very diverse and covers all possible genres in metal. We still work on our songs in the rehearsal room. I compile and arrange all the ideas. After all, I’m the singer, and I have to tailor my lyrics precisely to the riffs. It’s important that we write catchy choruses without neglecting our classic Sodom trademarks. We started working on new ideas right after the release of (2020’s) Genesis XIX. We don’t have a specific timeframe for when we’ll start composing. After the pandemic, we were obviously on the road a lot, playing gigs, so there wasn’t much time to write. But we kept collecting ideas and then arranged and improved the songs together in the rehearsal room. In between, we had rehearsed and recorded the songs for the 40 Years (At War, The Greats Hell of Sodom) album and released the EP 1982. When we finally got the option to submit a new album to the record company, things actually happened pretty quickly.”
Forty-plus years of creating masterful tales of man’s treachery, Angelripper has been recently celebrating with the above records, churning up the memories and bringing them into the 2020’s along with Frank Blackfire and Yorck Segatz on guitars, which makes it interesting (and admirable) when Angelripper reports to have gone back to analog equipment. “A colleague of Toni’s runs a studio with analog technology. His 24-track tape machine from the ’70s is still fully functional and he still records bands with it. We then came up with the idea of recording the drums with it, as I wanted the most natural and organic sound possible for the production. This was a challenge for Toni. If he made a mistake during recording, he would have had to start all over again. But he mastered it with ease and recorded many songs on the first take. The guitars, however, were recorded digitally with microphones and classic amplifiers. Afterwards, all the tracks were mixed on an analog mixing console. It was like a journey back in time to the ’80s.”
Angelripper explains Sodom’s delving back to the process that was the only choice for poor underground bands in the first half of their existence. He notes, “I don’t think the difference is that great, because the master is digitized again in the end. However, it was important to me that we didn’t use any additional digital effects on the individual drums, like the snare or bass drum. We also didn’t use samples, plug-ins, or trigger signals. This way, the drums retain their natural dynamics and sound. I just love those wide-open productions from back then. But unfortunately, we had to compress the entire mix during mastering, because nowadays music is listened to on smartphones and digital media. Unfortunately, we had to accept that.”
The Arsonist carries the torch of every Sodom album. It also boasts stunning images of war and aggression. Angelripper’s lyrics, which are not just blatant vengeance and horror, but can approach the subject with a perspective of sympathy; as evil and vicious as the music is delivered. “In my view, global security is spiraling out of control. What we’re currently experiencing is something I would never have thought possible. But this album isn’t about major global politics. I’m more concerned with the soldier who has to fear for his life every day on the front lines. The names of individual battles in a war or the belittling names of various weapons systems demonstrate the sheer absurdity. For me as a lyricist, all of this is, of course, an inexhaustible source of inspiration. But my hope is that there will be a diplomatic way out of this mess.”
“Inexhaustible” is tragically accurate. The Arsonist explores repeated themes of history, that are exponentially expanding today. And will do so tomorrow. There will always be war; that is humanity. Angelripper agrees, “Yes, it will never end. I was in the military (Bundeswehr) in the early 1980s and experienced the Cold War firsthand. But the guns fell silent, and I had faith in our politicians. That has changed. These many conflicts we currently have are increasingly becoming conflagrations. I worry about future generations, who will probably have to experience all this even worse. Wars are part of human nature, but we should still be able to use our common sense to find peaceful and diplomatic solutions.”
The Arsonist is out today, and you can order your copy from Steamhammer/SPV. Follow Sodom on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for future updates.
Photo Credit: Mumpi Kuenster
