German Thrash masters Sodom are back with their latest studio full-length, the thirteen-track, forty-eight-minute The Arsonist. Alongside the obvious focuses, such as quality of content and creativity, they also wanted to focus on the most natural production possible.
Sodom – The Arsonist
Release: 27 June 2025
Words: Jools Green
This focus was particularly on the drum parts, which have been recorded using a 24-track analogue tape machine without studio enhancement such as overdubs. This was to enable the human factor, which vocalist and bassist Tom Angelripper describes as containing “No plastic!”
Angelripper says that he feels “the difference in sound compared to today’s standard drum productions is amazing and has had a positive effect on all the instruments.
“Naturally, time and effort, as well as costs, were also higher, but we’re happy to fork out for a superior result.” No doubt this will be an aspect that will be greatly appreciated by fans.
On top of this the songwriting saw all four members involved. Tom has written all the lyrics, Frank Blackfire and York Segatz on guitars and Toni Merkel on drums were involved in the development of the material.
“Toni, who is also an excellent guitarist, contributed on a number of songs and helped to make the album even more versatile,” Tom says.
The album opens on the brief but atmospheric intro The Arsonist, an interesting piece that has exotic overtones as it opens. This rapidly turns dark and sets the atmosphere for the brutal driving thrasher Battle Of Harvest Moon.
Battle Of Harvest Moon is about the eponymous theatre of the Vietnam War in the ’60s. “Even though the Americans gave the operation a very poetic name,” Tom Angelripper says, “we mustn’t forget that those battles cost thousands of lives.”
Soundwise, it drives, and it engages. The chorus is catchy, and the midpoint thrashy leadwork is exhilarating. A dark undercurrent in the second half expresses the bleak severity of the subject, and the lyrics are delivered with conviction via Toms’s superbly expressive and distinctive vocal style.
Trigger Discipline is a full-throttle, maniacal assault on the senses. Not surprisingly, it is about a sniper who has completely lost control of his actions and shoots people indiscriminately. The leadwork is sharp and piercing, the drum work brutal and unrelenting, making another superbly expressive piece.
The next track, The Spirits That I Called, is a soul-stirring piece and a crunchy thrasher that packs a punch. The direction switches are slick and sharp, and the lyrics are delivered with precision and impact. The track is finished by a superb swathe of runaway soaring leadwork in the second half.
Following on is Witchhunter, a moving homage to Sodom’s late drummer, Chris Witchunter, who passed away in 2008. This is a fast-paced galloping driver with sharp, thrashy guitar bursts, and the drums are definitely more to the fore of the sound in further tribute. Along with anthemic choral chants and great second-half leadwork, overall, it is a great piece.
Dropping back to a mid-pace for Scavenger immediately gives the sound an even darker and more sinister feel. This pace impacts darkly on the vocals too. The leadwork here is superb and very different. It is distant and echoey, and the eerie riff patterns that echo through add even more menace to the track.
Scavenger is possibly my favourite piece of the album. It is not an easy choice either, with the bar set as high as it is across this album.
On Gun Without Groom, rapid riffing is fired at you from the offset, making an exhilarating galloper of a track where the vocals are delivered with punch, impressive range and protraction. If that is not enough, the burst of leadwork is searing enough to strip the flesh from your face.
The next piece, Taphephobia, meaning the fear of being buried alive or enclosed in a small space with no escape, is delivered with all the necessary dark urgency. The pace ebbs and builds dramatically, adding to the atmosphere. The vocals become more dramatic and tortured as the piece progresses, the leadwork squealing but restrained. Taphephobia ends dramatically on a brief, distant, and very unnerving vocal echo.
The punchy drive continues with the catchy as hell Sane Insanity, which boasts machine-gun riffs fired at you with manic intent. There is slick direction switching, excellent ranging, well-varied vocals and searing second-half leadwork that builds and builds into an absolute frenzy, ending dramatically with that vocal echo again.
Next is A.W.T.F. which Tom explains “is a tribute to (the late) Algy Ward from the British band Tank, to me the best Metal vocalist of all time.” Another piece that packs a catchy punch, I love the echoing vocal layering. There are some interesting vocal effects employed, too, and the second half leadwork, no surprises, is rather good, too.
Sinister guitar tones and tormented screams open Twilight Void. The dramatic ebb and build in the pace and well-placed protractions on the vocals are alongside an extensive swathe of frantic leadwork. This all adds to the ominous, unnerving atmosphere of the track. This atmosphere continues with the next piece, the vocally impactful Obliteration Of The Aeons.
The final offering, Return To God In Parts, takes things back, mostly, to a mid-paced delivery, aside from the berserk blast of second-half leadwork, after which things become a little faster and intense. A hugely punchy, catchy and impactful closing piece with an ominous message in the lyrics, culminating in the unnerving, thought-provoking final sound bite.
Cover artwork for The Arsonist, with its martial design, is by Polish artist Zbigniew M. Bielak, whose work has also featured on albums by the likes of Ghost and Mayhem.
The album will also include a bonus live EP, in some variants, of recordings from Sodom’s 1982-2002 German tour and will be released as a CD, LP, box set and digital download.
Sodom release The Arsonist on 27 June 2025 via Steamhammer / SPV. For more details, visit Sodom.lnk.to/TheArsonist.
