SODOM — Obsessed by Cruelty (review)

Album · 1986 · Thrash Metal

3.5/5 · 2022-08-27
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!

1 year ago
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UMUR wrote:

1 year ago

I never enjoyed the early releases by the teutonic three. It´s not until their second or third albums that I started finding them interesting. Maybe it´s because I don´t hail first and second wave black metal as the new black. Not then, not now...