Over forty years of Thrash for Sodom!
Formed in 1982 by Tom Angelripper (bass/vocals, Onkel Tom Angelripper, ex-Bassinvaders), the band, with Frank Blackfire (guitar, Frank Blackfire, Assassin, ex-Kreator), Yorck Segatz (guitar, Neck Cemetery, Rotten Casket) and Toni Merkel (drums, Big End Bolt, Frank Blackfire, Sabiendas), has now released its eighteenth album, The Arsonist.
The album opens with The Arsonist, a rather mysterious eponymous introduction in which the conflicting atmosphere of Zbigniew Bielak‘s (Behemoth, Darkthrone, Vader, Watain…) artwork is brought to the fore, leading into Battle Of Harvest Moon, the first wave of energetic riffs topped by Angelripper‘s solid vocal parts. The Old School mix is perfectly respected, allowing the screaming leads to join the mix, but also placing slower parts to temporize before marching on to Trigger Discipline, which offers us a brief moment of calm before the onslaught resumes. The rhythm suddenly accelerates, offering an aggressive approach while remaining groovy and catchy at all times, then it’s The Spirits That I Called‘s turn to bludgeon us with a menacing blast coupled with sharp riffs. The track could easily have been written in the late ’80s, so much so that it smacks of Thrash, letting the fury of the vocal parts infect us before moving on to Witchhunter, which uses much the same elements to ensure devastating continuity. The leads return to provide that scathing touch, before returning to a heady groove on Scavenger, combined with a few darker, almost intriguing touches on the choruses where the vocalist is at his most intense. We continue with the same rage on Gun Without Groom, which takes up the basics of Thrash at a frantic pace, regularly reviving the machine when it seems to be slowing down, then with Taphephobia, which also weaves a few dissonant harmonics into its playful advance that doesn’t forget to strike continuously. Sane Insanity keeps to a relatively similar rhythm, but the virulent base doesn’t shy away from letting the guitars give way to madness to accompany the charge towards A.W.T.F., where a sampled voice greets us and tempers the arrival of this wave of raw power within which piercing melodies lurk. The band doesn’t falter when Twilight Void strikes without warning, but allows itself slower, more macabre moments with Obliteration Of The Aeons, a rather contrasting composition that leads into Return To God In Parts, where the band allows itself a final assault with both direct riffs and chaotic guitars before the final acceleration.
Even after all this time, Sodom know perfectly well how to carve out their riffs for pure, unadulterated Thrash, making The Arsonist a real success. Fans will agree: the album lives up to the band’s reputation.
85/100
