CD Review: Sodom
Steamhammer/SPV
All
Access Rating: B+
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| Sodom - Epitome of Torture 2013 |
War is hell,
and the concept of it scares Sodom’s Tom Angelripper to death. To deal with his
dread, he paints some of the most horrifying scenes of bloody carnage imaginable
in the gory, death-obsessed lyrics smeared all over the bombed-out walls of
Sodom’s catalog. His fears haven’t abated in recent years; neither has his seething
anger.
There’s
a bonus track on the limited-edition digipak version of the German thrash-metal juggernaut’s newest LP, Epitome of Torture,
called “Waterboarding,” where Angelripper winces at just how far sadistic interrogators
are willing to go behind closed doors. And then there’s the blistering “Katjuschka,”
which finds Angelripper shaking his head in disgust over a Russian rocket
launcher – responsible for death and destruction on a massive scale – that has the
same name as a folk song about a young girl. Nobody’s
laughing at the irony, especially not Angelripper, whose descriptive lyrics are as intellectually sharp as the point of a spear on the action-packed Epitome of Torture.
Fortunately
for him, Angelripper has a vehicle for expressing his outrage, and that’s Sodom,
whose latest album – quite possibly one of the hardest-hitting and most rugged
of their career, sounding very much like Slayer in their prime or early Metallica – simply spits nails and inhales mustard gas like it was French
perfume. “S.O.D.O.M.” and “Stigmatized” are particularly brutal and ferocious sermons
of apocalyptic devastation and intensity, with new drummer Markus “Makka”
Freiwald setting a frantic pace and throwing down a frenzied gauntlet of double-kick
drum fury. And the title track jumps right into the fray, throwing brass-knuckled
riff haymakers left and right – as guitarist Bernemann does throughout Epitome of Torture – and repeatedly thrusting
its sharp bayonets into the song’s sinewy flesh. Perhaps inspired by Freiwald’s
manic drumming, an energized Bernemann unleashes some of the most potent and
rabid riffage of his career. And his solos are just as explosive.
Never
taking a breather, although “My Final Bullet” and “Cannibal” have their melodic
parts, Epitome of Torture is a wildfire
that consumes everything in its path, though the songwriting is not quite as multi-faceted as that of their countrymen Kreator. The speed of “Shoot Today, Kill Tomorrow”
is blinding, while “Invocating the Demons” flies around in dizzying fashion, like a nosediving fighter jet. And although Epitome of Torture often feels like it
is constantly going 120 miles per hour, without ever slowing down, there are
dynamic shifts in tempo and moments of crushing heaviness in tracks like “Into the
Skies of War” and the closer “Tracing the Victim,” with its gripping, almost
seductive hooks closing their fingers around your throat.
Mad as
hell on Epitome of Torture,
Angelripper is not going to take it anymore. His guttural growls and in-your-face
rages demand your undivided attention as he regales you with tales of human
depravity and callous disregard for the sanctity of life. It’s tough,
hard-nosed and graphic, just like the over-the-top violence depicted on the Epitome of Torture cover, sort of a tamer, but more politicized, version of Cannibal Corpse artwork. Sodom will not
be silenced, and with records like this, Angelripper’s roaring voice should be
heard.
- – Peter
Lindblad
