When 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.
In many interviews you’ve stated that you find your latest album Epitome Of Terror one of the best records Sodom has released in years. How so?
I really love the new album, but I don’t want to compare it directly to our older releases. The main thing is that Epitome Of Terror features our new drummer. Also the production is big step forward for us. We wanted to retain the Sodom spirit in our songs, but give them a more modern twist sound-wise. This album features the best of both worlds and that’s why I like it so much.
What did your new drummer bring to the table?
A lot of energy, and he can play our faster songs as well. Markus (Freiwald) was really happy when he had to chance to join the band and do lots of touring with us. He was also involved in the writing process for our new album. All the new songs were written in our rehearsal room. We like to write our songs as a band in a single room and not by sending mp3s back and forth. Because of Markus’ drumming abilities we were able to write more diverse material. We wrote some fast songs, but also more mid-tempo tracks. We’ve had some really good drummers in the band before, but Markus is simply the best drummer in Germany as far as thrash metal goes. Bobby (Schottkowski), our previous skinsman, was a more rock-orientated drummer and he wasn’t really good at playing fast songs. Markus has brought new élan to the band and you can hear that on Epitome Of Terror.
Do you think that’s why the new album sounds so fresh and inspired?
Certainly. The album features some of our fastest songs to date, like ‘Stigmatised’ and ‘Kajutscha’. I’ve often compared Markus’ drumming to that of Dave Lombardo (ex- Slayer). With a versatile drummer like Markus I’m able to write different kinds of songs. We play every weekend and we write new songs and luckily he is a fast learner as well. He only needs to listen to a song once or twice and he can play it. I’m really happy having him in the band.
Epitome Of Terror sees the return of Waldemar Sorychta at the production helm. What made you decide to work with him again?
Never change a winning team. Waldemar and I are good friends. He’s a perfectionist in the studio and he really wants to get the best performance out of everyone he works with. That’s a good thing, but it makes working with him also very hard. During the recording sessions for the vocals he made me sing all the vocal lines in different ways and he had me sing every song five or six times before he was satisfied. He told me that I’m able to sing more styles, so he let me do black metal and death metal inspired vocal lines as well. ‘Stigmatised’ is a good example of this. People asked me who the guest singer was when they heard the song for the first time. They were really surprised when I told them I did all the vocals. It’s very important to have someone around who actually listens to the music and understands what we are doing and what we are all about. Waldemar is that kind of person. We’ve already started working on new material and if I have my way we will work with him again on the next Sodom record.
Many veteran metal bands tend to mellow over the years, but that’s certainly not the case with Sodom. What’s your secret?
We are one of those band that never changes its style, because we want to keep our fans happy. We want be authentic and keep the 1980s thrash metal spirit alive. Of course we try to write better songs and we’ve grown as musicians, but we stick to our guns and our vision and we don’t care much about commercial trends or what other bands are doing. We don’t let critics and people from the record label tell us what we should do and tell us what songs we should write. The moment we let that happen will be the end of Sodom. Look what happened to bands like Tankard and Kreator a couple of years back. We’re still very passionate about the type of music we’re playing. For me thrash metal means do what you want and that’s the secret of our success. We’re making this kind of music for our fans. The main reason they like us is because we never change; we write good songs and we improve from album to album. We’re like to keep our music simple and straightforward. We’re not Dream Theater or Rush.
What keeps you going as a musician after all these years?
I’m 50 years old you know, and I can’t imagine a life without playing this type of music. When you look at people like Ozzy Osbourne or Lemmy from Motörhead, and the sort of lifestyle they had, they never had the chance to retire. As long as I’m healthy and I’m creative, I’ll be playing this type of music. Playing this type of music is such a big part of my life. I do this for the fans, because they give me so much love and joy in return. They are the ones that keep Sodom going. They buy our tickets, our merch and our albums. The day I don’t feel inspired anymore will be the day that I quit Sodom. That’s the main problem with many rock stars nowadays. They simply don’t know when to stop.
Finally, there’s whole new generation of thrash metal bands emerging—Evile, Municipal Waste and Havok, to name just a few. What do you think of these kinds of bands?
Around 2001 people began saying thrash metal was coming back, and how it was getting popular again. We’ve always stayed active in the scene doing our own thing, but many of the new generation of bands are merely copying older bands, and don’t try to give the music their own spin. I try to help younger bands and give them advice on how to deal with the business aspect of things. One of the things I keep telling them is that they should develop their own specific style, because you cannot recreate what has happened in the past. It’s very hard for young bands to develop something unique, because there are now so many new bands emerging. Back when we started with Sodom there were only a handful of bands around playing our kind of music. Nowadays it’s almost impossible to become a full time professional musician and make a living out of it. Many younger bands label themselves as thrash metal, but they’re actually playing metalcore. When you play in a band it’s okay to be inspired by your idols, but please don’t just copy them.
Raymond Westland