Epitome of Torture- Sodom Review

Epitome of Torture - Sodom

Band name- Sodom
Album name- Epitome of Torture
Origin- Gelsenkirschen , Germany
Label- Steamhammer
Website- sodomized.info
Rate- 5/5


I'm going to state a fact about this review and about myself in general before I start. I'm not one of those guys who just loves being unique for the sake of being unique. I'm not one to take an album everybody likes, yell “this is shit!” and post a status on Facebook about it to see how many comments i'll get. But with that said, when I found out that the new Sodom album, Epitome of Torture, was only on a few lists of “top of 2013,” I was shocked and even a little disappointed. Being the big Sodom fan that I am, (in my top 3 bands, ever) I wasn't expecting massive, all engorging bellowing of support for the new album. But hell, I even saw Evile's Skull on more lists!

Alas, if i'm to be the one guy going nay against the masses, I guess this is it. For me, Sodom's Epitome of Torture was not only a great album, but one that saw the Gelsenkirchen trio step into refreshing and interesting territory. Now, as a fan, when I first received those ominous declerations by Tomas “Angelripper “ Such (vocals/bass) that the album will be much more melodic, my mind started racing (you can spot that same fear in my Watain review.) What does this mean? Are they going to try to sound like Metallica? Are they going to make a (yes it wasn't out at the time, sue me) Super Collider-esque Sodom album? Then I reassured myself by listening to their previous albums, and my heart was given some comfort. They simply couldn't go in the Megadeth direction, Angelripper's voice simply wouldn't be able to handle it.

Luckily, Sodom took the meaning of melody in an entire different direction. Rather than make the whole album more melodic as a whole, and kind of tone their direction that way, they simply made the songs snappier and more memorable. This can already be seen in the opener for the album, “My Final Bullet.” A happy song about suicide on the battlefield (not the game.) Basically, the song itself is a Thrash stomper, but rather than slow down at the chorus for a “melodic chorus” of some sort, they simply keep going into a super catchy hook of sorts, with this riff that keeps momentum but lets Angelripper's vocals sink in.



In the last few Sodom albums, you could see that they were trying to find a clever way to integrate a less primal level of musicality to their music. With songs like “The Art of Killing Poetry” standing as particular milestones in the way, they found a way to do it organically, genuinely and most of all, to not compromise any sort of headbangability (bam, Webster dictionary will owe me compensations for new words) along the way. But again, during the album, there are points that are melodic, but they are not the main event, and are not the majority of the album.

The following song, S.O.D.O.M, and Epitome of Torture are a masterclass in what Sodom is known for doing best. The uncompromising Thrash Sodom is so world renowned for returns in these two, and doesn't let off the gas for a minute. S.O.D.O.M (no, they didn't actually come up for words for the acronym) being the faster of the two tracks, is kind of the headline that is supposed to tell the listener that they haven't in any way, shape, or form deviated from course. Meanwhile, the title track, Epitome of Torture (fun fact, Epitome is pronounced as epi-to-my, which Angelripper mispronounces on the album as epi-tome) shows off Sodom's groovier capabilities. Don't get me wrong, this is still faster than your daddy's car, but the chorus kind of drops into this groovy midsection that bulldozes through the way.

The album goes then into the songs Stigmatized and Cannibal. Which much like the two opening tracks, show the two parts of this album intertwined. If you made the recording on Stigmatized shittier, and put Angelripper's balls back up when they were when he was a teenager, it could have easily been on earlier Sodom albums. Again, not in a bad way,but in a way that shows them cruising from power to power, much like Slayer being both melodic and powerful on Seasons of the Abyss. Meanwhile Cannibal is easily one of the more melodic songs on the album, with both a melodic opening and bridges, while never ditching the upper mid-tempo.

Well, it's been a quick ride but we're already on the second part of the album! Insert here the first promotional track released by Nuclear Blast off the album, Shoot Today, Kill Tomorrow. I don't know whether I grinded it out of proportion or it's just not as incredibly strong as the other tracks on the album, but it's probably my least favorite track on the album. Don't get me wrong, it's not a shitty song in any which way, it's just the only song on the album that you could really catalog as “ok, another Sodom song.” Not bad, not medium, not amazing, just another Sodom song. Like pizza, even if it's not the best one you ever ate, it's still pizza, and that’s already better than many other foods.

Then the album proceeds to cascade into the second part of the album, which is my favorite one. After a strong first half that finished off with Shoot Today, Kill Tomorrow, comes an even stronger second half which really blew winds in my Sodom boat's sails (yes, I have a Sodom boat.) Invocating the Demons is less war focused, and is alongside Into The Skies of War, harkening to Angelripper's statements and the organic melodic vibe on this album. It took a little bit of Kreator's antics on Phantom Antichrist, yet it didn't inject the whole dose of NWOBHM into their veins (feel free to see this as a Tapping the Vein reference,) only half.

Katjuscha, the song that followed is, alongside Into The Skies of War, one of my two favorite tracks on the album. The subject matter of the song and the grittiness with which it is portrayed is a part of what I really like about Sodom classics such as Agent Orange and Nuclear Winter. While it is not as melodic as the latter, the immortal chorus of “Katjuscha, clawing at the eyes of god!” simply hit that same spot in my heart that movies like Full Metal Jacket do. Which is the absolute opposite spot which Into The Skies of War touches. Probably the most melodic track on the album, is a really epic headbanger that reminds you of those less realistic and more grand in scale war movies where you see fiery projectiles dashing through the skies and onto the poor opposing army. If we are to continue the metaphor, the awesome guitar melodies and riffage laid down by none other than trusty guitarist Bernd “Bernemann” Kost, alongside the vocals of Angelripper, gives the same sensation as does the Flight of the Valkyries scene in Apocalypse Now. Vietnam references with Sodom, now 11 albums after Agent Orange (well to be fair, only 4 after M-16.)

Well, closer, Tracing the Victim seems to start very melodically and slow paced, it climbs into a stomping beast, and a fitting end to this album. I imagine it as somewhat the credit song of the album, has a little bit of everything without making it an 11 minute fuck fest of “lets play every shtick we know.” This track is by no means the raw brutality of S.O.D.O.M or Stigmatized, but has a little bit of everything to close this album.

In all and all, I greatly enjoyed the new Sodom offering. Maybe i'm just a sucker for them, maybe I picked a tack in it that others have not, or maybe it was just largely under the radar as they're smaller in the the USA than their counterparts. Who knows, but what I do know as that i'm already rooting for the next album, while confidently saying that since April 2013, this mother fucker has not left my regular play list. Well, you could look to your left for the score...but I bet you already know it by this review and the fact it's in my top 3 of this year.