Sodom
Expurse of Sodomy

The thrash metal genre is divided into various sections, stylistic modes, and types which, while maintaining some shared characteristics, present, and this is what matters most to us, differentiating markers. Attentive listeners certainly won't have missed expressions like <<German school>>, <<thrash metal of the bay area>>, <<Brazilian school>> and, more extensively, <<South American>>, and so on.

Anyone with even a superficial familiarity with music that is less subject to fame, of which metal is one example, will certainly know how entities gravitate around what is the musical core: among these entities, the main ones are producers, distributors, and magazines, more or less claiming <<specialization>>. From the intersection, to varying degrees, of these, singular phenomena arise: it happens that, to exemplify, a certain designation used to refer to a genre overlaps with another, itself more or less used. This has happened more than once: to recall a case, one will certainly remember how in the 80s the expression black metal often accompanied the phrase death metal, as if the latter were a synonym of the former. Other times it happened that a certain designation was replaced by another, and/or this one "migrating", ending up defining other musical manifestations hitherto unusual. Consider, for example, how certain groups, including Sodom, Kreator, Sarcófago, Vulcano, initially defined themselves as black metal or death metal until, for cataloging and/or promotional reasons, where considerable influences are exerted by the aforementioned entities, for some of these bands, they came to be talked about as thrash metal, with black metal subsequently identifying certain groups, especially Scandinavian at first, unusual at that time in terms of musical questions.

Thus today the classificatory methodologies and identifying expressions have varied considerably; we prefer instead to adhere to old criteria, adding specifications - such as, for example, <<first wave>>, <<second wave>> etc., where there might be a risk of causing confusion -.

Now we must say something about this extended play by Sodom entitled Expurse of Sodomy. The German trio, founded in 1982, distinguished itself in the period from 1982 to 1986 by first-wave black metal standards, consisting of raw and primitive sounds, very linear and simple musical structures, anti-Christian themes, but also <<occult>>, some of whose lyrics also show significant insights. With the second album, Persecution Mania, dated 1987, the band oriented itself towards thrash metal, playing it in an extreme manner, with definable influences of primordial death metal, so much so that the same classification thrash/death metal would not be incorrect. The production, less primitive, has been somewhat refined, yet retaining violence and aggression. The sound architectures have become - in part, and not much - more articulated, adding more variability and tempo changes; the lyrics have seen the "occult" element move to the background, placing emphasis on death and war, from rather spurious and terminal perspectives.

The EP Expurse of Sodomy is a sort of bridge between the record Obsessed by Cruelty - black metal - and the album Persecution Mania, the aforementioned turning point. Released two months before the latter, it consists of three tracks. The black metal scores are evident in both the main and chorus riffs of both the first song Sodomy and Lust and the second, The Conqueror — whose cardinal guitar section features a classical riff widely used by many first-wave black metal groups — while the thrash metal influences are showcased in the midsection of the first track and in the third, My Atonement.
The latter is, in our opinion, the least successful: the melodic cues, including a "clean" introduction, are elaborated both in cadenced rhythms and in the attempt to propose some sonic refinements that, however, seem to us quite uninspired and not organic to each other. Moreover, we believe the song as a whole to be rather boring.

The production, identical to what would soon characterize Persecution Mania, is typically thrash metal; the guitar, precisely refined, maintains violence, although it is less primitive compared to previous works; the drums, played by Chris Witchhunter, follow the same path: power is preserved, precision is increased, greater clarity and rhythmic variations are present, particularly regarding the drums.
If in the black metal period Tom Angelripper's bass was darker and decisively less audible, here it leans towards resembling the style of Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, a fundamental influence on the German trio and, particularly, on Angelripper himself: it almost turns into a second guitar, of critical impact concerning rhythm. The voice, although different from previous works, remains raw and aggressive, forceful in declaiming lyrics, not yet susceptible to the changes observable in Persecution Mania. These latter, primarily anti-Christian and "occult" in subject matter, certainly do not originate from entirely traditional perspectives, but we feel compelled to praise them, as they challenge one of the greatest syncopes of metaphysics, namely Judeo-Christianity.

In conclusion, our judgment is certainly positive, as the first two tracks are of the highest caliber. What rather constitutes a significant reason regarding our decision not to award the highest rating is the third song, My Atonement, which is at a lower level compared to the rest of the EP. That said, we assign four stars to the work and nonetheless recommend it, because in any case, it constitutes a premier artistic manifestation in metal.