UMUR "Agent Orange" is the 3rd full-length studio album by German thrash metal act Sodom. The album was released through Steamhammer Records in June 1989. It´s the successor to "Persecution Mania" from 1987 and features the same trio lineup who recorded the predecessor.

Although the songwriting and technical level of playing are a bit more sophisticated on "Agent Orange" than was the case on "Persecution Mania (1987)", the two albums are very much what I´d label sibling releases. Sodom show enough progression in both areas to seperate the two releases, but on the other hand the overall music style is very similar on the two albums. It´s raw, aggressive, and sometimes even brutal German thrash metal. Sodom understand the importance of variation though, and while part of the tracks are furiously fast-paced and aggressive thrash metal with lead vocalist/bassist Tom Angelripper delivering raw and raspy vocals on top, most tracks also feature heavy mid-paced parts, and even parts where Angelripper uses other and less aggressive vocal styles. The best example of that is the ultra heavy "Remember the Fallen", but the original CD bonus track "Don't Walk Away", which is a cover by Tank, also shows that Angelripper is capable of performing other types of vocals. He doesn´t stray far from his starting point, but enough to add a little diversity to the vocal part of the album.

Some tracks and riff structures/rhythms may seem a little formulaic, but again Sodom manage to avoid losing the listener´s attention by throwing the occasional curveball. "Magic Dragon" for example starts out really heavy, and then suddenly explodes and continues in a furiously fast-paced and aggressive fashion, only to end in a mid-paced galloping type riff/rhythm. That´s exactly the type of unconventional songwriting structures which make "Agent Orange" a little more interesting than it would have been if every track on the album was just your regular vers/chorus structured composition. "Ausgebombt" deserves a mention too as one of the different sounding tracks of the album, as it´s basically a hardcore punk meets Motörhead type track, with Angelripper´s bass sounding almost like an ode to Lemmy´s distorted bass tone and playing style.

"Agent Orange" features a powerful, raw, and detailed sounding production job, which suits the material perfectly and upon conclusion this is mandatory listening for those interested in the teutonic thrash metal style. This one hits the balance right between unhinged aggression and brutality, and the occasionally more sophisticated songwriting moment. Not completely unlike a contemporary German thrash metal release like "Extreme Aggression (1989)" by Kreator. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Persecution Mania" is the 2nd full-length studio album by German thrash metal act Sodom. The album was released through Steamhammer Records in December 1987. It´s the successor to "Obsessed by Cruelty" from 1986 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as guitarist Destructor has been replaced by Frank Blackfire. The original vinyl release featured 8 original tracks and a cover of "Iron Fist" by Motörhead, while the European CD version featured a re-recording of "Outbreak of Evil" (the opening track from the 1985 "In the Sign of Evil" EP) and the material from the March 1987 "Expurse of Sodomy" EP as bonus tracks. The cassette version only featured the 9 vinyl tracks and the re-recording of "Outbreak of Evil".

"Persecution Mania" is quite the leap forward for Sodom in terms of memorable songwriting and better musicianship. It´s still a very raw and aggressive sounding thrash metal release (sometimes bordering early death metal), but the songwriting is audibly tighter, more sophisticated, and generally more interesting than the band´s early releases. The addition of Blackfire to the lineup meant a lot. His playing skills were on a high level and his writing contributions also meant the band had more options and weren´t as limited as before.

The band play fast and aggressive thrash metal riffs and rhythms, but they are also capable of slowing down and playing heavy sections too. Lead vocalist Tom Angelripper plays some powerful and heavy bass lines and his vocals are sandpaper raw and snarling, spitting out apocalyptic lyrics about politics, war, and religion. "Nuclear Winter" opens the album in great style and with that song the dark and aggressive tone is set for the remaining part of the album. Not all tracks are equally sophisticated or interesting, but they are all quite effective and designed to pummel the listener.

"Persecution Mania" features a raw and dark yet detailed sound production, which suits the material well. Sodom were still in the early stages of their career at this point, but "Persecution Mania" is actually surprisingly mature sounding, especially compared to their early raw and unpolished releases. It´s not that they didn´t develop their sound further in the subsequent years, but "Persecution Mania" is pretty much the blueprint for the releases to come. A 3.5 (70%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Expurse of Sodomy" is an EP release by German thrash metal act Sodom. The EP was released through Steamhammer Records in March 1987 and bridges the gap between the band´s debut and sophomore studio albums "Obsessed by Cruelty (1986)" and "Persecution Mania (1987)". The material from the EP are included as bonus tracks on the original European CD version of "Persecution Mania (1987)", and on later re-releases of said album. At the time of original release, the 3 track, 14:50 minutes long EP worked as a teaser release for the album release of "Persecution Mania (1987)" later the same year.

Stylistically "Expurse of Sodomy" is also closer in style to the raw an aggressive thrash metal style on "Persecution Mania (1987)", than to the proto-black/speed/thrash metal sound of "Obsessed by Cruelty (1986)". The sound production is raw and powerful, yet detailed and well sounding and the addition of guitarist Frank Blackfire to the lineup (he replaces Destructor) has meant a lift in quality of the musicianship and songwriting. These guys can play and they can also write an effectful thrash metal tune.

As a consequence of the material from the EP being included on most versions of "Persecution Mania (1987)", the relevance of "Expurse of Sodomy" as an individual release has decreased over the years, but upon original release it was an EP showing great musical progress compared to the early releases by the band. It´s definitely a successful bridge builder between the early releases and the band´s future sound, and more importantly it´s a good quality release deserving a 3.5 star (70%) rating.

siLLy puPPy SODOM is rightfully considered part of the Big Four of Teutonic thrash metal along with Kreator, Destruction and Tankard however when the band formed in Gelsenkirchen, Germany all the way back in 1981 they followed in the footsteps of Venom and are now considered to be one of the earliest examples of first wave black metal. Extreme metal in the early 1980s was a mix of primordial thrash metal, speed metal and heavy metal however a few bands including SODOM picked up on the lo-fi evil sounding possibilities that Venom dropped with its famous “Black Metal” album.

While SODOM didn’t quite go the entire black metal distance, the band cranked out three EPs worth of dark blackened thrash before releasing this debut full-length OBSESSED BY CRUELTY. Considered the anomaly in the band’s canon, SODOM would drop the black metal lo-fi evil as fuck aspects altogether beginning with its second album “Persecution Mania” and instead adopted a war-themed thrash metal sound for the rest of its existence.

This debut release is notorious for having been released twice. Once in Europe on Steamhammer Records and in North America through Metal Blade. The different versions are actually different recordings however the one most have heard is the second version thus making the original Steamhammer vinyl one of those underground cult collector’s dreams come true. The album has been re-released many times including with the EP “In The Sign Of Evil,” the two releases that SODOM was clearly in the primordial pools of first wave black metal with lo-fi rawness and attention paid more to a filthy atmospheric gloom rather than the technical prowess that thrash metal had been exhibiting.

On the original vinyl there were two sides. Side A titled “Side Obsessed” and Side B presented as “Side Cruelty.” At this stage SODOM was clearly inspired by the roughened speed metal of Venom however unlike England’s progenitor of extreme metal, bands like SODOM followed in the footsteps of Hellhammer, fellow Germans Iron Angel, Poison and of course early Bathory, all of which still had one foot in the world of thrash metal and one in the newly discovered hellfire potentials of the world that would eventually be called black metal. All of these early bands had a very similar sound and this SODOM debut is no different. Thrash metal guitars and energy frosted with a frigid lo-fi veneer accompanied by a growly vocal style verging on raspiness is the name of the game here.

While other thrash metal bands like Slayer were flirting with Satanic subject matter and imagery, bands like SODOM at this stage sallied forth into the kingdom of Satan with one anthem after another dedicated to the Prince of Darkness with anti-religious rants and evil as fuck themes. The darkened distortion with the lo-fi production and vocal style are really what gets this one the first wave black metal tag but all in all this is pretty much a thrash metal album albeit a blackened one (as pretty much all black metal was back then.) This is an energetic rampage of a traditional album’s playing time of 41 minutes and for my ears a damn good listening experience.

Of course SODOM would quickly switch to a pure Teutonic thrash metal sound on “Persecution Mania” and would become one of thrash metal’s biggest names in Europe with more proficiency on the musical mastery and attention paid to more virtuosity and thundering gallops however this debut release is not that bad for an underground early black metal release at all. My main gripe is that it’s not very original at this point and other pioneers like Hellhammer and Bathory caught the essence of early black metal better. While the odd album out of the disco, i still find OBSESSED BY CRUELTY an intriguing release of early blackened thrash metal. The album has been praised by Mayhem for inspiring the purer sounds of the second wave so that’s saying something for sure!

UMUR "Obsessed by Cruelty" is the debut full-length studio album by German thrash metal act Sodom. The album was released through Metal Blade Records in May 1986. "Obsessed by Cruelty" was actually recorded twice and therefore exists in two different versions. The first recording session was released by Metal Blade Records in the US and the second recording session was released through Steamhammer Records in Europe. Apparently the latter mentioned label was not satisfied with the original recording and refused to release it, so Sodom were forced to record the alternate version to have the album released in Europe.

Stylistically "Obsessed by Cruelty" pretty much continues the raw old school thrash/speed metal style of the "In the Sign of Evil" EP from 1984. Raw barking vocals, aggressive riffs and rhythms, and a generally dark and occult atmosphere is a valid description of the content of the album. The music style is in many ways similar to the first releases by contemporary artists and fellow countrymen in Kreator and Destruction. Influences are probably artists like Venom and early Slayer. So this is old school thrash metal with a lot of speed/traditional heavy metal elements.

"Obsessed by Cruelty" features a sound production which is decent enough for the time, but it´s not particularly well sounding. It suits the rawness of the material well, but the production doesn´t exactly enhance the power of the music. The early releases by Sodom are often mentioned among some of the seminal proto-black metal releases, but I´m not sure I hear the black metal connection on "Obsessed by Cruelty", other than the fact that the music is raw, primitive, and dark (which are descriptive features which can be applied to a lot of heavy metal). The vocals are for examle not black metal oriented at all.

Upon conclusion "Obsessed by Cruelty" is decent quality release if you enjoy early 1980s raw and dark thrash/speed metal, but personally I think it comes off a bit too primitive for a 1986 release. Consider some of the other thrash metal releases from the same year (releases by Slayer, Dark Angel, Kreator...just to mention a few), and put this one up against them, and it just pales. I know "Obsessed by Cruelty" is considered a classic teutonic thrash metal release from the 1980s but I think I´m stretching with a 3 star (60%) rating.