Sodom
Out Of The Frontline Trench

Two weeks ago a dear friend of mine invited me to eat at a typically Roman trattoria, traditional cuisine, and things like that. Even the owner's mother was there, wandering through the dining room armed with a wooden spoon, giving us all, myself included, a devilish look to make sure we were scooping up the sauce with our bread. After everything, we paid the bill and left. In the car, my friend said, "Put something on to listen to, I'll let you choose." And for some reason, I felt an urge to listen again to Sodom's latest EP, "Out Of The Frontline Trench."

Raw, honest music, the kind of music Sodom listeners expect to hear. It reminded me of the same meal I had eaten not even ten minutes earlier. Because if there's one thing you can always count on when talking about Tom Angelripper, it's consistency. Not the kind of consistency that leads you to release two or three very good records and then coast on them for twenty-five years or more, releasing questionable quality products in between. It’s a consistency that always respects the band's stylistic norms yet always manages to make you listen through without skipping tracks and repeatedly playing that one song you like. That kind of consistency where you get to the end of the listening and say to yourself, "Damn! It's already over?"

And then, hearing tracks like the Titletrack, I think that there's still something good in old-school Thrash. Angelripper's harsh voice is always there, almost as if it came from a guy who's smoked a few too many cigars and whose vocal cords are pleading for mercy. But that's what you listen for. I feel the same way listening to "Genesis XIX," a track that will be on the new album coming out at the end of the year, with a dirty and fast riff that I can't stop myself from keeping time with, or at least trying to. The relentless drumming on "Down On Your Knees" seems to want to transport the listener back to the '80s when Thrash masterpieces were booming one after the other every two weeks. Sure, the re-recorded version of "Agent Orange" could have been spared, not that it turned out bad, but it would be like remaking grandma's meatballs thirty years after her passing. It wouldn’t have the same flavor as those beautiful times now long gone. "Bombenhagel" live, on the other hand, always makes a great impression, thanks also to the much-appreciated return of Frankie Blackfire on guitar.

"Out Of The Frontline Trench" was tasked with bringing Sodom back into the limelight after Angelripper's not-so-friendly ousting of Makka and Bernemann. And if with the previous EP, "Partisan," the task was accomplished, with this new release, the band reconfirms a great freshness. Probably for some, it will be the same old story. But just like in that trattoria, I'm satisfied with sincerity and passion; if the dish has been made countless times, it doesn't matter to me. As long as it's good, right?

3.5.