New Sodom ‘In War And Pieces’ album
aaamusic | On 08, Oct 2010
Seminal German Thrash Metal Trio Sodom’s 13th studio album, ‘In War And Pieces’, set for release on November 22nd on Steamhammer / SPV, is a visceral, brutal, totally exhilarating masterwork. ‘In War And Pieces’, containing 11 brand new, monumental monsters of songs, produced by Waldemar Sorychta (Tiamat, Lacuna Coil, Sentenced, Grip), easily ranks on a par with Sodom’s all time classic ‘Agent Orange’ album, which was re-released by SPV in the Spring of 2010.
‘In War And Pieces’ will be available as a limited edition DigiPak, with a bonus ‘Live at Wacken Open Air 2007’ live CD, as a double gatefold blood red coloured vinyl LP (with exclusive bonus track ‘Murder One’) and as a standard jewel case CD.
On ‘In War And Pieces’ Sodom focus on the worst excesses of power; arrogance, greed, spotlight-seeking, fanaticism, corruption, cowardice and oppression. Main man Tom Angelripper explains; “I’ve always written about what’s going on in the world, about the injustice and mistakes that happen everywhere. I know that you can’t change anything politically that way, but I would like to at least comment on the situation and generate an awareness of this deplorable state of affairs. Being a singer in a metal band allows me to voice my anger to a large audience.”
Tom Angelripper, credits producer Waldemar Sorychta for capturing the “phat, brutal and open” sound on ‘In War And Pieces’. “Waldemar is a great musician himself and has done some brilliant work, especially on the guitar sound,” Tom explains. “He knows how to get the absolute maximum out of a speaker.” As brutal as the production is the diverse songwriting on In War And Pieces, a kind of tour de force through the whole history of thrash metal, featuring harsh arrangements, melodic solos and raging vocal attacks. “I feel that we sound more contemporary and structured than we did on our recent releases,” Tom analyses. “At the same time, there are also references to recordings such as ‘Persecution Mania’ and ‘Agent Orange’.
Expalining ‘Knarrenheinz’, the only German-language song on the album; “‘Knarrenheinz’ is the mascot on the album cover, that’s why I felt he deserved his own lyrics,” Tom grins. The album artwork was designed by Eliran Kantor, whose has previously worked for such renowned acts such as Testament, GWAR and Mekong Delta.
Sodom formed in 1982, drawing their inspiration from bands like Motorhead, Anvil and Venom and made huge underground waves with their agenda setting self-released “In The Sign Of Evil” EP in 1984. The newly formed Steamhammer / SPV Records label snapped the band up, released their “Obsessed By Cruelty” album in 1986, and “Persecution Mania” album in 1987 before sending the band out on the road for 18 months to build a live following.
“Agent Orange”, released in 1989, which grimly depicted the horrors of the brutal Vietnam War, then catapulted Sodom into Thrash Metal’s premier league and they set off on tour round Europe with Sepultura, going on to build up a huge following in Japan and South America. A series of vital studio albums – “Better Off Dead”, (1990), “Tapping The Vein”, (1992), “Get What You Deserve”, (1994), “Masquerade In Blood”, (1995), “’Til Death Do Us Unite”, (1997) “Code Red” (1999), “Marooned” (2000), and “M-16” (2001) – ensued, before Sodom recorded a double live album, ‘One Night In Bangkok’, in Thailand in 2003. The “Lords Of Depravity Part 1” DVD, released in 2005, documented the story of Sodom from 1982 – 1995. The sequel DVD, “Lords Of Depravity Part 2”, documenting the period from 1995 – 2009, was released in August 2010.
The band’s last full studio album, ‘Sodom’, was released in 2006, followed by ‘The Final Sign Of Evil’, featuring re-recorded versions of the tracks from the band’s debut EP, as well as seven songs that were originally written for ‘In the Sign of Evil’ but never recorded, in 2007.
Tracklisting / Content: /Jewel Case CD & Limited Edition Digipak:
CD 1
01. In War And Pieces
02. Hellfire
03. Through Toxic Veins
04. Nothing Counts More Than Blood
05. Storm Raging Up
06. Feigned Death Throes
07. Soul Contraband
08. God Bless You
09. The Art Of Killing Poetry
10. Knarrenheinz
11. Styptic Parasite
CD 2 Limited Edition Digipak ‘Live At Wacken Open Air 2007’
01. Blood On Your Lips
02. City Of God
03. Proselytism Real
04. Chris Passion
05. One Step Over The Line
06. Abuse
07. Sodomy And Lust
08. Ausgebombt
09. The Saw Is The Law
10. Outbreak Of Evil
www.spv.de / www.sodomized.info
