Sodom - Agent Orange (1989) LP PIC (2005)

 

Sodom was formed by Tom Angelripper and Aggressor in 1981 in the western German industrial town of Gelsenkirchen. They were mostly influenced by bands like Motörhead, Tank, Raven, and Venom.

They soon found a drummer called Bloody Monster who was, however, quickly replaced by Chris Witchhunter, with whom they released two demos, Witching Metal and Victims of Death in 1982 and 1984, before signing a deal with SPV GmbH. After a gig in Frankfurt in 1984 (with Destruction and Tankard) Manfred Schütz of SPV GmbH came to the band and spoke the legendary sentence "You guys are so bad, you will sell a lot of records!". This led to the recording of their debut EP In the Sign of Evil. Missing was Aggressor, who had left the band. He was replaced by Grave Violator (recommended to the band by Kreator's Mille Petrozza), who also wouldn't stay very long. A full album's worth of material was intended to be recorded for In the Sign of Evil, but problems with the label meant the release was truncated to an EP.

In Grave Violator's place, Michael Wulf joined, just to leave the band shortly after the recordings of what would be their first full-length album Obsessed by Cruelty in 1986 to join Kreator (where he would last only one show). He later died in a motorcycle accident in 1993. Obsessed by Cruelty was entirely re-recorded (also in 1986) with another short-time guitarist at the stipulation of the record company, though confusingly both versions ended up being released. The new recording (featuring an additional song called "After the Deluge") was used by Steamhammer for the European release, but for the American release through Metal Blade, the original rejected recording was accidentally used instead. Mislabeled re-issues of the album over the years have only served to further muddy the waters and the original recording has ended up being more widely heard.

After Obsessed by Cruelty was released, the band abolished their Satanic image and replaced it with the (pacifistic-motivated) war theme that can be found on most of Sodom's records. With their new guitarist Frank Blackfire, the most legendary Sodom line-up recorded two albums (plus a live album, Mortal Way of Live, the first of various Sodom releases which had a censored cover in Germany): Persecution Mania (which was the first Sodom album produced by the band's long-time producer Harris Johns, and also had the first cover that featured the band's mascot "Knarrenheinz") and Agent Orange (including the single "Ausgebombt"). This album made Sodom the first German thrash band to ever enter the charts (it reached number 36 on the German Media Control charts).

VMLP018

-Tracklist:

Side A:
1. Agent Orange     06:04    
2. Tired and Red     05:26    
3. Incest     04:40    
4. Remember the Fallen     04:21

Side B:
5. Magic Dragon     06:00
6. Exhibition Bout     03:36
7. Ausgebombt     03:05    
8. Baptism of Fire     04:04
9. Don't Walk Away     02:55

 

-Line up:

• Tom Angelripper: Bass, Vocals, Lyrics
• Chris Witchhunter (R.I.P. 2008): Drums, Percussion, Vocals (backing)
• Frank Blackfire: Guitars, Vocals (backing).

 

 

 

 

Label: Vinyl Maniacs.

Limited to 1000 copies.

 Recorded at Musiclab Studios, West-Berlin, March/April 1989.
Mixed at Horus Sound Studios, Hannover, April 1989.

 Producer, Engineer, Mixed by Harris Johns.

 Layout: Janette Andersson.

 "This album is dedicated to all people - soldiers and civilians - who died by senseless aggressions of wars all over the world".