Sodom
In War And Pieces

The snow falls, slow and plentiful, laying its silent white blanket on roofs and valleys. The world seems to stop, the hands move slowly, and even the most miserable object gains a poetic aura of purity. It seems that around us there is a sort of great bubble, muffling every noise of this era of ours, increasingly fearful of stillness, except for the laughter of children and the sighs of noble souls who still know how to be moved by events like this. The caring sparrow tightens her little ones between her wings, overcoming the sovereign cold with the warmth of love.

To hell with it, I'm putting on the latest Sodom CD!

The legends of Teutonic Thrash are back, and in great style. Yes, because the band of the old angel rapist may have almost thirty years of violent, crazy, and sick music on their shoulders, but this "In War And Pieces" is a clear sign that the Sodom still have many bullets in their gun. You can tell right away that this is a German band's album: the usual crappy cover. Don't be fooled though, because "In War And Pieces" is the usual bomb ready to explode, and once you've started, you won't be able to stop. Sodom presents us with a finely crafted work, flavored with an excellent production (does the name Waldemar Sorychta ring a bell?) that made the sound sharp and immediate just right. Certainly not a "crafty" album, therefore, but 47 minutes that pass pleasantly between crushing riffs and flowing, melodic sections. The good old Tom Angelripper delivers a remarkable performance, with a dark tone that still knows how to reach the highest peaks when necessary ("Nothing Counts More Than Blood" above all), proving to have aged decidedly better than some of his peers, while Bernemann, with his solos and his devastating rhythmic setup, manages to make us furious against the horrors and atrocities of war, which is once again the theme of the album; the only one to disappoint is poor Schottkowski, but rest assured he will make up for it. Few tracks need to be highlighted, also because the quality is well distributed; a special mention for the machine-gun "Hellfire" and the outburst "Knarrenheinz", a track with a supersonic speed where our guys vent in their native language.

"In War And Pieces" is a remarkable album that - given the admirable alternation between mid-tempo and warlike accelerations - doesn't have a single dead spot and will delight many tastes. In short, in a market full of squalid clones, the Sodom grandpas show that it's still the ones with a few more wrinkles making the difference. Not the most complete work of Sodom, as that exalted Bernemann claims, but surely a release worthy of the band of these three gentlemen. UH!