Seventeen albums in and German thrash legends Sodom are still out there throwing riffs like hand grenades, and singing about war while worshipping at the feet of Motörhead. Of course, after forty-plus years in the business, this is a very different band to who started out in 1982, and not just in terms of personnel. The raw, youthful enthusiasm of their early years has long since been replaced with maturity and experience.
From thrash metal blitzkriegs that could decimate entire cities, the Sodom of the last couple of decades now takes aim with far more surgical precision. Thankfully, latest full length studio release The Arsonist (SPV Recordings) boasts the same ruinous results as their younger indiscriminate bombardments.
After the eponymously titled intro sets the scene, the band launch into “Battle Of Harvest Moon,” a song about a military operation which took place in Quế Sơn Valley during the Vietnam War. Crushing riffs and skewering guitar solos shower the opener in napalm, sounding like Slayer’s “War Ensemble” and “Mandatory Suicide” just got called up to the draft.
“Trigger Discipline” continues down the Slayer path, frontman Tom Angelripper going full Tom Araya on an unrelenting face-shredder about a sniper who completely loses control and starts randomly shooting people. “The Spirits That I Called” features great axe work from Frank Blackfire and Yorck Segatz before “Witchhunter” arrives as a pleasing homage to the band’s late drummer Christian “Witchhunter” Dudek, sticksman Toni Merkel doing his predecessor proud with some top-quality tub-thumping.
“Scavenger” boasts a crawling groove underpinned by a pitch black guitar melody while “Gun Without Groom” and “Sane Insanity” are simple but effective heads down thrashers before the Sabbat (UK)-esque “Taphephobia” quickly replaces the fear of being buried alive with the fear of impending neck-ache. Another paean to an old friend, “A.W.T.F.” is a fitting tribute to Algy Ward from British band Tank while “Twilight Void” sounds like Slayer’s “Dead Skin Mask” cavorting in a cemetery with “Cirice” by Ghost. “Obliteration Of The Aeons” contains some nice vomity vocals before “Return To God In Parts” brings the curtain down in savage style.
With contributions from all four members, the band adopts a more old-school approach this time, recording the drums with a 24-track analogue tape machine and no digital enhancements, while Polish artist Zbigniew M. Bielak (Ghost, Mayhem) provides the expertly crafted cover art. A fantastic mix of old and new, The Arsonist might owe more to Slayer than Motörhead but this is still classic Sodom. Fully loaded, razor sharp, and 100% lethal.
Buy the album here:
https://sodom.lnk.to/TheArsonist
8 / 10
GARY ALCOCK
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