Flashback to 1982. It is spring in Essen, Stauderstraße in the Altenessen district, a small musty rehearsal room in an industrial wasteland area. Three long-haired hopefuls have tuned their instruments and are hard at work, recording their first demo tape at top volume. The track they’re cutting is called "Witching Metal" and becomes bludgeoning thrash metal of the purest variety.
Looking back at his adolescence, Sodom boss Tom Angelripper remembers: “Basically, we chose the wrong key, but we weren’t about musical correctness, we were all about attitude. We were against the establishment, we were in trouble with our teachers and training supervisors because, in their opinion, we wore the wrong clothes and listened to the wrong kind of music. At vocational college, I was the only one into metal. All the others listened to New Wave or Neue Deutsche Welle.”
That was 41 years ago, but the influence of that formative era still affects the present, which is why Tom and Sodom wrote the track "1982", recalling the band’s first steps both musically and lyrically. Now, "1982" as well as re-recordings of their early songs "Witching Metal", "Victims Of The Death", "Let’s Fight In The Darkness Of Hell" and "Equinox" have been immortalized on vinyl, some on CD, for the first time.
Also, as any dynamic, legendary band would, they’ve also scheduled a tour for 2023-24 in the spirit of that early Sodom era.
1982 will be released on November 10 via SPV/Steamhammer in the following configurations:
- CD-EP DigiPak
- 12" Vinyl, 140 g, cristallo vinyl, printed inner sleeve
- Download / Streaming
Pre-order here
- 12" Vinyl exclusive coloured edition only at the Napalm Records shop
Pre-order here.
- Exclusive 12" Vinyl and CD/LP Bundle with a T-shirt only at the Steamhammer shop
Pre-order here.
1982 tracklisting:
"1982" (Remix)
"Witching Metal"
"Victims of Death"
"Let`s Fight in the Darkness of Hell"
"Equinox"
Sodom live dates:
September
3 - Câmpulung Muscel, România - Posada Rock Festival
7 - Santiago, Chile -Teatro Cariola
9 - Sao Paulo, Brazil - Carioca Club
10 - Dyn, Argentina - El Teatro Flores
30 - Coesfeld, Germany - Fabrik
October
6 - Hamburg, Germany - Kronensaal
7 - Berlin, Germany - ORWOhaus
14 - Mallorca, Spain - Full Metal Holiday
15 - Kapfenberg, Austria - Stadthalle
28 - Bochum, Germany - Turock Fest
November
3-5 - Toluca, Mexico - Hell and Heaven Open Air
December
9 - Effenaar/Eindhoven, Netherlands - Dynamo Metal Meeting
27 - Oberhausen, Germany - Turbinenhalle 2
28 - Heidelberg, Germany - Halle 02
29 - Regensburg, Germany - Eventhall Airport
30 - Erfurt, Germany - Central
Sodom are:
Tom Angelripper - bass, vocals
Yorck Segatz - guitars
Frank Blackfire - guitars
Toni Merkel - drums
