Hailing from Germany, Sodom is probably one of the crappiest death-metal bands ever...but they do have their moments.

"In the Sign of Evil/Obsessed by Cruelty"

1. "Outbreak of Evil" (4:43)
2. "Sepulchral Voice" (4:27)
3. "Blasphemer" (2:59)
4. "Witching Metal" (3:10)
5. "Burst Command 'til War" (3:30)
6. "Deathlike Silence" (6:59)
7. "Brandish the Sceptre" (2:56)
8. "Proselytism Real" (3:31)
9. "Equinox" (3:32)
10. "Volcanic Slut" (3:21)
11. "Obsessed by Cruelty" (5:47)
12. "Fall of Majesty Town" (4:01)
13. "Nuctemeron" (3:00)
14. "Pretenders to the Throne" (2:39)
15. "Witchhammer" (2:02)

I owned their debut EP on CD for a long time, but never managed to find their first full-length album (except as a $40 import, which, in my opinion, would have been a TOTAL waste of money.) Finally, I discovered both these albums on a single CD, and decided to add it to the collection....

...Now, something weird is going on here. Like on the original CD I owned, the tracks "Outbreak of Evil" and "Burst Command 'til War" are broken up into several separate tracks (basically, the *BOOM* sound effect preceding and/or following each song is on its own track)--not a problem, really. But there is a "mystery" track on OBC called "After the Deluge", listed both on the CD and crappy vinyl, except for one problem....IT DOESN'T EXIST!! One wonders if they did it on purpose, or left that track off the album and never told anybody, or if it's some obscure typo?? VERY strange phenomenon for an otherwise sloppy, hilariously bad album.

"Persecution Mania"

1. "Nuclear Winter" (5:22)
2. "Electrocution" (3:11)
3. "Iron Fist" (2:42)
4. "Persecution Mania" (3:36)
5. "Enchanted Land" (3:56)
6. "Procession to Golgotha"--instrumental (2:00)
7. "Christ Passion" (6:10)
8. "Conjuration" (3:40)
9. "Bombenhagel" (5:04)
10. "Outbreak of Evil" (3:29)
11. "Sodomy and Lust" (5:10)
12. "Conqueror" (3:28)
13. "My Atonement" (6:01)

My friends & I dubbed this album "Reign in Blood Part II", since "Nuclear Winter" sounds almost IDENTICAL to Slayer's "Angel of Death", right down to the tempo changes! Overall, though, the production and musicianship is MUCH cleaner than their first two releases. "Iron Fist" is a somewhat silly cover of the Motörhead song. "Bombenhagel" is easily their best song ever, complete with a rendition of the German national anthem! This was one of the first metal CD's I ever bought, thanks to the inclusion of the Expurge of Sodomy EP and a rerecording of "Outbreak of Evil". "Sodomy and Lust" has been covered by Cradle of Filth.

"Agent Orange"

1. "Agent Orange" (6:04)
2. "Tired and Red" (5:25)
3. "Incest" (4:36)
4. "Remember the Fallen" (4:18)
5. "Magic Dragon" (5:59)
6. "Exhibition Bout" (3:33)
7. "Ausgebombt" (3:03)
8. "Baptism of Fire" (4:01)
9. "Don't Walk Away" (2:55)

The band's actually become somewhat musically proficient at this point, which of course greatly dimishes their charm. :-) I really wasn't fond of this one, and only bought the CD to completely upgrade my crappy vinyl collection..."Ausgebombt" is easily the best (and fastest) song here, and the CD bonus track "Don't Walk Away" sounds pretty good also. Still, it's certainly not gonna prompt me to track down the rest of their CDs...

Previous Band Back to Index Next Band