In an era where music is streamed, shared, and squeezed into increasingly smaller devices, the way we experience sound is often dictated by convenience rather than quality. From vinyl to boomboxes, earbuds to high-end amps, the tools we use to listen shape the music we hear. But for Tom Angelripper of Sodom, there’s one modern staple that simply doesn’t make the cut: the smartphone.
Angelripper isn’t dismissive of all digital formats. He understands the appeal of portability and accessibility. Yet, he draws a hard line when it comes to the trade-offs artists are forced to make just to accommodate the most common listening device in the world.
"The only problem is, in the end, everything is digital. If you press it on CD or do a master of the album, the engineer says, 'In the end, we have to compress the whole file.' Before we mastered the songs, the guitars were positioned left and right, very far from the drums. You get a wide-open production," he explained in an interview with Blabbermouth.
He’s talking about the spatial nuance—the richness in sound that gets shaved off when a track is altered to suit phone speakers. And to Angelripper, this loss matters deeply.
"Most people listen to music on a smartphone. You have to compress it to be able to hear the guitars on a smartphone. I don't listen to it on the phone. I have my high-fidelity amplifier at home. When I listen to music, I want to have the best sound possible."
This isn’t just a matter of preference for him—it’s tied to the philosophy behind Sodom’s sound. Their approach in the studio is methodical, deliberate, and, above all, analog where it counts. That's why the band recorded their latest album live in the studio.
"Recording in a digital way is cheap. We recorded different versions of the songs, and then we decided which songs were best when we started mixing. In my opinion, there is a significant difference between mixing the drums and adding samples to them, which a lot of bands do. They're putting snare samples or trigger signal effects on the bass drums or adding something to the toms. I hate it! [Laughs] Then we got a completely natural drum sound, which I really prefer. I prefer the drum sounds from the '80s when the drums sound like drums. Some bands have a special drum sound, and it's kind of a trademark, like Venom. It's their trademark, the big drum sound," he explained.
"We did it. I spent the money on it; it was expensive. I want to have organic, authentic drums. We recorded the guitars on a computer, but we used microphones in front of the speakers, like a live show. I know a lot of guitarists use Kemper amps and profiling amps. It's okay. It's not something I want."
It’s a revealing stance, especially in a time when digital modeling and software-driven production dominate the industry. Angelripper’s insistence on capturing real drum acoustics and live amp miking shows a commitment to fidelity that many might consider a lost art.
