ALBUM REVIEW: Holycide – Towards Idiocracy


Having passed away during the nineties, the once thriving Thrash Metal scene didn’t stay dead for long and the early aughts saw a gradual, but noticeable shift back to life. By 2004, the genre’s overdue re-animation was in full swing and a slew of new acts crawled out of the crypt, desperate to make an impression on the next generation of thrashers.Continue reading


FESTIVAL REVIEW: Maryland Deathfest XIX Pre-fest Live at Baltimore Sound Stage and Ram’s Head Live


21 years. It has been 21 years since the first Maryland Deathfest, which I was fortunate enough to be at. I wasn’t much into death and black metal at the time, but time has changed me and now I cannot get enough. Back then it was a three-day event, but now in 2024, it is four days plus a fifth day for the pre-fest.  And that’s what I’m going to tell you about, the pre-fest for Maryland Deathfest XIX!Continue reading


EP REVIEW: Bloodletter – Malignancy 


 

A re-recording of their independently released 2014 EP, Illinois-based thrashers Bloodletter unleash Malignancy (Wise Blood Records) once again, but this time with a leaner production, sharper guitars, and tighter, more improved performances.Continue reading


EP REVIEW: Sodom – Bombenhagel


Starting their fortieth anniversary celebrations a few months early, German thrashers Sodom prepare to enter their fifth decade with the release of Bombenhagel (Steamhammer / SPV), a three track EP featuring two brand new songs and an updated version of an old classic.

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Sodom Reveals New Lineup, Spring Tour Dates Incoming


After celebrating their 35th anniversary as a band in 2017, and releasing most of their long-time lineup, classic metal band Sodom has now shard their new lineup. Joining founder and leader Tom Angelripper (bass, vocals), are Husky (drums), Yorck Segatz (guitar), and the return of Frank Blackfire (guitar). Continue reading


Sodom – Decision Day


Sodom – Decision Day album cover ghostcultmag

 

With over thirty years in the business and fourteen studio albums under their collective bullet belts, if you don’t know what Sodom are all about by now, then let me be the first to congratulate you on finally leaving the comfort of that rock under which you’ve clearly been living and welcome you to a world scarred by nuclear fallout and filled with the cacophonous noise of World War II bombers, relentless machine gun fire, and German thrash metal fueled by unashamed Motorhead worship.

In fact, due to the distinctive cover art of fifteenth album Decision Day (Steamhammer/SPV), the band’s obvious love of all things Lemmy is very likely to be the first thing you’ll notice. Bearing a striking similarity to 1983 album ‘Another Perfect Day’ (Bronze), it comes as no surprise to discover that the very same artist, Joe Petagno, supplied the brushstrokes this time. Keeping the basic skeleton of the old Motorhead artwork, some quintessentially Sodom touches have been added and the result is more than satisfactory.

Unsurprisingly, this is also evident in the music, and after the opening salvo of ‘In Retribution’, ‘Rolling Thunder’, and title track ‘Decision Day’ the band deliver possibly their most unabashed Motorhead tribute to date (cover versions aside) by lifting the riff to ‘Ace of Spades’ and using it for a song about everybody’s favourite ancient Roman megalomaniac, ‘Caligula’.

‘Who is God’ sees the band (not for the first time) also craftily pilfering from Metallica, with their own take on the riff to ‘Enter Sandman’. ‘Strange Lost World’ crawls menacingly along before the, er.. interestingly titled ‘Vaginal Born Evil’ speeds things up nicely again. ‘Belligerence’ lives entirely up to its name, a groove-laden beast featuring sudden and electric bursts of speed from drummer Markus ‘Makka’ Freiwald and guitarist Bernd “Bernemann” Kost, while vocalist Tom Angelripper lacerates his throat for four enjoyably unwholesome minutes.

The pro-conservation blast of ‘Blood Lions’ doesn’t mess around with its angry message about recreational big game hunting, but the reworking of the title track from the band’s recent ‘Sacred Warpath’ EP doesn’t quite pack the same venomous punch as its 2014 counterpart. Things are brought to a close by the superb ‘Refused to Die’, one of a number of tracks which evoke the spirit of 1987’s Persecution Mania (Steamhammer).

With its pointed riffs and firm production, Decision Day goes to show once again that the majority of Sodom’s peers still remain mere pretenders to the throne.

8.0/10

GARY ALCOCK

 

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The Merit Of Consistency – An Interview With Sodom


sodom2012bandWhen it comes down to quality thrash metal, few deliver it better than the German 30-year veterans Sodom. With their 14th album release recently clocked up, Ghost Cult thought it was time we sat down with founding singer/bassist Tom Angelripper to probe his mind on everything Sodom, his views on the new generation of thrash metal bands, and how to get made—and stay made—in the music business.Continue reading