Sodom frontman Tom Angelripper recently guested on The Dan Chan Show, where he discussed the band's 40th Anniversary, touring, how the music industry has changed over the years, and more. Check out the interview below.
Tom Angelripper on Sodom's longevity:
"We never changed our music. We always did the music we love. There was no dictation from outside changing something. When you go back to the '90s, a lot of bands changed their sound because of commercial interests from the record companies. Sodom is the last band; we never changed anything. We just do the music we want, and that is the secret behind our music. But the business changed, really. It's getting more and more commercial. The so-called metal bands... if you're gonna see the bands live on stage with bigger shows, and I know a lot of metal bands don't play live in a live show, and this is the end. But Sodom is still a metal band and that is the secret. We never changed. We're gonna do metal as heavy as possible. We always try to write good songs, and we try to get better [as] musicians, with our instruments and all that stuff. We never look at what other bands do, we never look left or right. We just do our music, and that is the secret."
Sodom recently released a new single and video for the song "After The Deluge". The song is taken from the bonus CD of the box set version of the 40th anniversary album, 40 Years At War-The Greatest Hell Of Sodom.
Frontman / founder Tom Angelripper: "We dedicate this lyric video to our recently deceased friend and former guitarist, Uwe Christoffers. With this fantastic song he wrote for Sodom back in 1985, he stays alive for all eternity. We will forever hold him in our restless and blackened hearts."
"After The Deluge" is available on digital platforms found here. Check out the official lyric video below.
40 years of Sodom, 40 years of ruthless thrash metal ‘Made in Germany’. What came into being in 1982 in Gelsenkirchen-Buer has lost nothing of its authenticity and rawness, not even four decades later. Tom Angelripper and his men still spearhead a music style that draws its energy from pure determination, intransigence and relentlessness.
What’s more, Sodom never fails to surprise their fans all over the world. 40 Years At War - The Greatest Hell Of Sodom, is a more than worthy anniversary album that - in various formats - sums up the band's history in an unusual and highly ambitious way. “Our goal was to re-record one song from each of our previous albums,” Tom explains. “Not necessarily the most obvious ones, we wanted to go for rarities or tracks we've never or very rarely played live.”
The CD and vinyl double LP with their martial cover artwork penned by Eliran Kantor (Kreator, Testament, GWAR, among others) include 17 tracks, all newly recorded by the current Sodom lineup featuring Frank Blackfire (guitars), Yorck Segatz (guitars) and Toni Merkel (drums). Tom: “We cover the songs unaltered, that’s to say: in exactly the same key and with the original lyrics. We’re better musicians now than we were back then, of course, so the new versions sound tighter and more up-to-date but the arrangements of the songs were deliberately kept unchanged.”
40 Years At War - The Greatest Hell Of Sodom was released on October 28 via Steamhammer/SPV.
Tracklisting:
"Sepulchral Voice"
"After The Deluge"
"Electrocution"
"Baptism Of Fire"
"Better Off Dead"
"Body Parts"
"Jabba The Hut"
"Gathering Of Minds"
"That's What An Unknown Killer Diarized"
"Book Burning"
"Genocide"
"City Of God"
"Ashes To Ashes"
"In War And Pieces"
"S.O.D.O.M."
"Caligula"
"Euthanasia"
