ALBUM REVIEW: The Arsonist – Sodom
There’s a surprisingly moving track just under halfway through The Arsonist, the latest album from ‘nam-obsessed thrashers SODOM. Witchhunter is a tribute to their former drummer, Christian ‘Witchhunter’ Dudek who died in 2008 and it’s weirdly heart-warming. Mainly because rather than recording a sombre ballad for their departed brother, the Germans have written a hyperactive, whiplash-inducing thrash metal anthem with a call and response chorus. It’s exactly the kind of metal that Dudek was known for, and a fitting way to remember the fallen.
It’s also, very SODOM. It’s traditionally minded thrash, recorded with few digital tricks and a strict adherence to straightforward head-banging. It follows the standard verse-chorus-guitar-solo formula to the letter and it’s an absolute blast. The German four-piece settled on their sound all the way back on their Persecution Mania album in 1987 and been reliable stalwarts ever since. True, not all their albums have been home runs, but you can depend on them to deliver pit-ready anthems every few years, and The Arsonist is no different. It’s not an instant classic but is a solidly entertaining, 21st Century thrash record. Get in, bang head, get out.
It’s also the second SODOM album where they’ve been a four-piece. Like 2020’s Genesis XIX before it, The Arsonist benefits from the extra body in the line-up and sounds beefier than a butcher’s shop. The riffs hit harder, the rhythm section is absolutely pummelling, and Tom Angelripper’s screams are positively unholy. Tracks like Sane Insanity and Trigger Discipline are aggressive and entertaining, racing to the choruses and hitting like eighties classics with modern production values. Fans of their earliest material may miss the low-fi rawness, but there’s still an unpleasant and gritty edge to them.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, there’s also a welcome return to the warzones of the far east. The opening Battle Of Harvest Moon finds SODOM recounting one of the earlier battles of the US intervention period of the Vietnam war, and it’s a bullet-riddled, scorched Earth rager. Angelripper delivers his vocals like he’s on his knees with his arms extended in desperation to the Hueys flying overhead, and it’ll hopefully become a mainstay of their live shows. SODOM don’t reinvent themselves by any means, but they’re still one of the best at making pure bloody-minded thrash metal.
As a whole, The Arsonist is an entertaining piece of modern thrash. At this stage of their career, SODOM are unlikely to bust out any genre-pushing curveballs, but they have got very good at writing bang-head-constantly metal songs. If you’re a fan of earlier works like M-16 or In War And Pieces, you’ll enjoy The Arsonist too. And if you’d rather staple your toes together than attend one of those new-fangled ELECTRIC CALLBOY gigs the kids are going to, and SODOM haven’t crossed your radar yet, get this in your ears pronto. Don’t expect a gamechanger and you’ll love it almost as much as the smell of napalm in the morning.
Rating: 7/10
The Arsonist is out now via SPV/Steamhammer.
Like SODOM on Facebook.