Sodom
"Lords of Depravity" Part 1
As a part of the Big Three on the German thrash metal scene, Sodom has reached a status somewhere between “cult” and “legendary” alongside countrymen Kreator and Destruction. Of the three, however, it’s Sodom’s continued existence 20-some-odd years after the fact that is the most surprising, considering the band has gone through line-up changes on every album between 1983 and 1997. Then again, given founder/front man Tom Angelripper’s single-minded pursuit to have a band, that was heavier than Metallica and more brutal than Slayer, perhaps it’s not so surprising at all as each change brought Sodom one step closer to his goal. There’s a lot of history there, and thanks to the new DVD, "Lords Of Depravity Part I", Sodom fans have been offered an in-depth look at the tumultuous formative years of one of thrash metal’s most underrated acts.
“The record company’s original idea for the DVD was just to film a show at the Wacken Open Air and maybe add some backstage material,” Angelripper begins. “The producer from Roax Films (Ronald Matthes) had the idea to turn it into a documentary because the band has existed almost 25 years. It was a lot of work because I had to try and get all the old material – video tapes, photos all that stuff – and then put it together. We worked on it for more than two years. It was a nightmare having to scan in hundreds of these photos and then going to the studio in Berlin to put everything together. But the most important thing about doing the DVD was getting interviews with all the former Sodom members because it’s for the fans. They want to see (former drummer) Witchhunter and hear what he has to say about the old times, they want to hear from (former guitarist) Andy Brings and the others. That was the biggest part of doing this.”
Angelripper readily admits that getting the desired interview footage wasn’t an easy task.
“I don’t have any problems with Sodom’s former members, so I just called them up myself and asked them to take part in the DVD. But (founding guitarist) Aggressor lives in Brazil now so that was a problem and Chris Witchhunter didn’t want to do it.
“We’re going to start working on ’Part II’ in a couple months,” he reveals, “which will be a little easier because everyone’s been using camcorders for the last ten years. We’ll continue the history lesson, but the second DVD for ’Part II’ will be a kind of tour documentary. People think that touring life is great, and no, it’s not always fun, so I want to show that to people. And, Ronald Matthes is always with us with his camera. He’ll be with us when we do our Canada/US tour in January, which is the first time Sodom has ever played over there. I want to do this for the fans and give them something for all the years of support they’ve given to Sodom.”
At the time of this interview Angelripper was not only gearing up for Sodom’s North American live debut, he was in the studio working on the next Sodom record. As fate would have it, the making of "Lords Of Depravity Part I" led to Andy Brings (Powergod/The Traceelords) coming on board as producer.
“We started recording the new album with Achim Koehler, but he quit during the recording sessions because he also started working at Nuclear Blast,” Angelripper explains. “I had no idea what we were going to do, but I talked to Andy because he has a small but very good studio. He wanted to do it because he knows Sodom, he knows me and how I sing, and he’s done a great job. I think the band’s sound is much better than when we recorded with Harris Johns because of Andy. He’s not in the band anymore but he knows 100% how this band is supposed to sound.”
Isn’t it a bit strange for both parties considering Angelripper gave Brings the boot in ’94? Angelripper is the boss, but it’s Brings in the control room shaping the band’s sound.
He was a really big part of Sodom because he played with the band for ten years, so as far as I was concerned he had to do it. I talked to him on the phone about 100 times trying to convince him, and he finally agreed. But he was really drunk when he actually did the interview. But he told everything like it was and that was okay.”
Not only is "Lords Of Depravity" an education for the fans, it was a way for Angelripper to refresh his memory. He admits to having forgotten a lot about things that happened during the band’s early years.
“It was real historical research,” says Angelripper. “When we went back to how Sodom started, recording the demos, I had to go back through all the old fanzines and the old reviews because I’d forgotten a lot of that stuff. Andy Brings helped me out with a lot of material; for example, he knows exactly when and where we played in Japan. A lot of the old Sodom members were a really strong part of making the DVD because I forget everything (laughs), and I don’t collect Sodom stuff. Those guys did, so when I needed pictures and reviews and live footage I was able to get it from them.”
In spite of the difficulties encountered along the way, Angelripper feels the end result was worth every frayed nerve and every drop of sweat.
“If I look at something like the Kreator DVD, it’s okay but it’s not enough,” he says. “That’s not necessarily the band’s fault because the fact is most bands don’t get the budget from the record company to do a proper documentary. I was lucky because the guy from Roax Films decided he would pay for the production. He wanted to bring this out and I’m very happy that we did it. And this is only ’Part I’. We ended this DVD with 1995 because that was the time when I said I didn’t want to do Sodom anymore. I was sick of the line-up changes and my Uncle Tom project was pretty successful. But, when the record company told me I had to tell people that I never wanted to do Sodom ever again I said ‘Fuck you, I’m doing Sodom now’ (laughs).”
“No. When I’m singing or playing bass he’s sitting at the desk saying ‘Come on, Tom, try it like this’ or ‘There was a mistake there’ and I listen to him. I never say ‘I’m the boss and I’ll do what I want.’ I try to understand and realize what Andy is hearing or feeling and it works. I really believe the next record is going to be the best produced Sodom record ever. When I kicked him out of the band in ’94 he hated me, but he’s forgiven everything and we’ve moved forward. He accepts my opinion and I understand his feelings. At the time I kicked him out he was very young, and I guess I was looking for a guitar player closer to my own age. But it’s all in the past now and we get along great.”
With regards to the new album as a whole, don’t expect any surprises. Describe it as being a typical Sodom album when it comes out and Angelripper will be quite happy.
“I think that would be a compliment because we never try to change Sodom’s style. We always try to keep the spirit from the ‘80s - straightforward thrash metal. This is pure energy, and we’ve never tried to become more commercial. When a record company tells us that we need to go in a direction like Metallica did, I say ‘Fuck you.’ We created our own style and we’re going to keep it. We just try to get better.”
Track list:
DVD 1 - Historical Depravity
DVD 2 - Live Depravity
1. INTRO
2. AMONG THE WEIRDCONG (MIXCLIP)
3. VICE OF KILLING (SOFIA)
4. OUTBREAK OF EVIL (SOFIA)
5. MASQUERADE IN BLOOD (SOFIA)
6. ON TOUR WORLDWIDE
7. THE SAW IS THE LAW (MIXCLIP)
8. REMEMBER THE FALLEN (WFF)
9. DIE STUMME URSEL (WFF)
10. M 16 (ROCKHARD)
11. PRESS WORLDWIDE
12. NAPALM IN THE MORNING (MIXCLIP)
13. NUCLEAR WINTER (SOFIA)
14. TOMBSTONE (SOFIA)
15. SODOMIZED (SOFIA)
16. EAT ME (SOFIA)
17. SODOM WORLDWIDE
18. CODE RED INCL. INTRO (WACKEN)
19. ABER BITTE MIT SAHNE (WACKEN)
20. WACHTURM (WACKEN)
21. AGENT ORANGE (WACKEN)
22. FANS WORLDWIDE
23. SODOMY AND LUST (SOFIA)
24. WITCHING METAL (SOFIA)
25. BACKSTAGE (SOFIA)
26. AUSGEBOMBT (SOFIA)
27. ACE OF SPADES (SOFIA)
28. BACKSTAGE (SOFIA)
29. STALINHAGEL (MIXCLIP)
30. OUTRO
CLIP COLLECTION:
01. AUSGBOMBT
02. SILENCE IS CONSENT
03. DIE STUMME URSEL
Tech info:
- Concert DVD app. 135 min
- History DVD: app. 180 min
- Sound: 5.1 DOLBY DIGITAL; 2.0 PCM STEREO
- Subtitles: German and English
- Picture format: 16:9