As part of the recent release of the new SODOM album 'Genesis XIX', Rock Overdose and Christos Doukas had the great pleasure of having an in-depth discussion with the band's founding member Tom Angelripper, who said many and interesting which you can read below…
Rock Overdose: Tom, how are things at the SODOM headquarters?
Tom Angelripper: We are fine, thanx.
Rock Overdose: SODOM are back this year with a new record. "Genesis XIX" not only sounds extremely hard and multi-faceted, it also sounds a bit old-school. Tom tells us a little more about the new album.
Tom Angelripper: Think the song writing process makes the difference. We still do everything according to old fathers' custom. We meet in the rehearsal room, start a jam session, have a few beers and it sprays out for us too. Most of the time it starts with a guitar riff and everyone adds their ideas. Then I arrange everything again to adapt the title for my vocal parts and to match the dimensions of the text. But there are also rehearsals where we go home without having achieved anything; you just can't get over the knee.
Both guitarists are great songwriters but with different points of view. Frank is also very influenced by guitarists from the 60s and 70s, Yorck is also interested in modern bands. But these different songs make the new album so colorful
Rock Overdose: "Genesis XIX" was recorded with the new band line-up. Please tell us how the current line-up came about, and the new openings with two guitarists. Also, this is the first time in the history of Sodom that the band has four members.
Tom Angelripper: I came up with the idea to recruit a second axeman when Bernemann was still in the band. But he seems not very interested and I thought that he never accepts a second guitarist by his side. Later, we started rehearsing sessions with Frank for the first time after he left the band. And now songs like Nuclear winter, Sodomy & Lust, and Christ passion sounded so amazing and authentic.
I was so astonished that the guitar sound is exactly the same like on persecution mania or Agent Orange album. Now, we are able to reproduce the songs in an original way during the live sets.
Yorck as well is a big Sodom fan, so he came up with a lot of ideas for new songs and upcoming setlists. With two guitarists we are able to perform songs which are not working with just one. Even my bass can`t replace a second guitar. The live sound is getting more brutal and dynamic.
Rock Overdose: The album was recorded in the Woodhouse Studio. How did the recording session go under corona conditions?
Tom Angelripper:I booked the engineer/producer Siggi Bemm and his professional studio to get the album mixed on his huge analogue desk. I my opinion the sound than getting more organic and authentic, cause the Siggi`s desk is working with tubes. I know, that digital recording and mixing is usual and payable nowadays, but it was a fulfilled dream to work in a real Studio with a long-time producer/engineer like Siggi. The new songs are more authentic and much more tailored to the listening habits of our fans. Of course we kept our distance and wore masks. All hygiene concepts were applied.
Rock Overdose: Lyrically, How important are lyrics for Sodom? And, what about the lyrics in “Genesis”. Also about the song in German lyrics came from the nineties.
Tom Angelripper:
BLIND SUPERSTITION
We hit upon the idea to re-record this intro from our 1988 tour in the rehearsal room when we were in the process of planning the setlist for our upcoming gigs and going through our old stuff. And bingo, we came up with a name. It sees us embrace our band history without ever forgetting our roots.
SODOM & GOMORRAH
The ideal opener, as far as I am concerned. This title has all the typical Sodom trademarks. In the 1980s, parts of the song were arranged in a totally different way. The structures were more complex and tailored to the vocalist. Countless masterpieces that we love dearly to this day (among them a lot of our own material) served as a blueprint. You sometimes hear that bands used to develop their songs together in the rehearsal room, which is something we still do today.
The lyrics describe a very delicate situation in the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. That didn’t please the Lord at all and his anger rained down on them in the form of fire and brimstone …
EUTHANASIA
A typical thrash grenade that could only have been penned by Frank. To me the song sounds like a lost gem from our Persecution Mania days and takes me back to a glorious past.
In a very dark chapter of our history, this term (originally old Greek for “death”, “dying”) was abused to justify atrocities and murder as “mercy killings”. From today’s point of view, everybody should have the right to decide between life and their own death.
GENESIS XIX
One of the first titles we wrote after the line-up change in 2017. To me it symbolises the departure to a new Sodom era. With its combination of melancholy riffs and super speedy trash attacks, this song was practically predestined to open our most recent live shows.
Again, the lyrics are about the destruction of S&G through the hand of God (in reality it was probably down to a meteorite impact …) and the story of Lot and his daughters. The Bible provides plenty of historical background and you can learn a lot about people’s lives at that time. Even non-believers, among which I count myself, should read it occasionally.
NICHT MEHR MEIN LAND
We haven’t used this kind of mix of blast beats and midtempo riffing very often in the past. Now the time seems right again. Particularly since we’ve enlisted a drummer who can handle these sorts of intricacies. I still recall our sound engineer Siggi saying: “Merciless – one of the best Sodom songs of all time,” and I couldn’t agree more.
We’d originally planned an English lyric for this title, but why not do something in German again for a change? I grew up during the sixties and seventies, and the 1980s were my most formative years. Notwithstanding all gloomy predictions and starry-eyed idealists, I must admit: Things really were better back then. We currently live in a world full of fear and uncertainty. And I also think of future generations who will have to carry the can and pay for our mistakes. On top of everything else there’s the Covid pandemic. It makes the ice of ignorance melt, revealing a big heap of shit, full of social injustice and grievances.
GLOCK`N`ROLL
One of my faves on the album. Yorck’s awesome main riff cuts right through you (or at least through me), the pre-chorus goes under your skin. The solo part is heavy metal in its purest form. This is another track where I was glad to have a drummer who can play tough and precise bars, like a doctored Glock 20 in fully automatic mode. Again, the lyric is about a serial killer. He doesn’t kill out of greed, revenge or political frustration. He kills because he wants to watch a person die. The title is obviously a play on words and was inspired by a visit to the shooting range and a swig from the Jacky bottle.
THE HARPOONEER
This number is as deep as the Pacific Ocean and as powerful as a tsunami. And once again our guitarist Yorck has proved to be a first-rate composer. In retrospect, parts of the song remind me of Slayer’s “Show No Mercy”, but that was probably totally unintentional. Unlike the songs “Tribute to Moby Dick/Silence is Consent” from our GWYD album, which are about the unfortunately still topical and totally pointless mass killing of whales, this one is about the early days of whaling, which was necessary for survival at the time, and the story of Captain Ahab and his deadly revenge campaign against one of God’s creatures. The same-named novel by Herman Melville is of course essential reading and the movie starring Gregory Peck a definite must-see.
DEHUMANIZED
“We don’t play this music to make friends” … that was one of our mottos in the early 1980s. Basically, not much has changed about that. And sometimes we just can’t help being totally without taboos and inhibitions, unleashed and aggressive. In the end, all that’s left are black ashes and the despair about the uncontrollable and inhuman world in which we live, in the form of this musical offering.
And that’s precisely how this lyric was written, born from my ponderings about a future that we no longer have and that leaves me aghast….
OCCULT PERPETRATOR
Another masterpiece courtesy of Frank. Here you can hear his passion for acute and tough-as-nails thrash riffs, combined with his penchant for classic rock guitarists from the sixties and seventies. The middle part may sound a little unusual to the inclined listener, but the title has always been and continues to be awesome. We know full well that we don’t have to follow every trend and that we basically don’t fit into any pigeon hole. But personally, I’ve always loved accomplished and creative compositions such as this.
It’s about the eternal battle of a few for a righteous world and the futile undertaking of fighting and conquering an enemy that is smaller than a grain of sand (a quote by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen … hahaha …). And only the privileged northern European countries will benefit from an effective vaccine. The virus will mutate globally and at some point, whether we like it or not, people from the southern hemisphere will migrate to the north and gain access to our domestic comfort zone, with or without violence.
WALDO & PIGPEN
A typical thrash thunderstorm, again written by Frank, in the style of the material that was so popular on our Agent Orange album.
W&P (those were their code names) are two helicopter pilots who came under heavy fire during their deployment on Vietnamese territory. Nothing unusual really, but the recordings of the radio traffic between the two were rediscovered in 2016. You only have to picture yourself in their almost hopeless situation to understand what mortal fear is. Pigpen (Mark Garrison) later wrote a book about his experiences in that futile war.
INDOCTRINATION
Fancy a little punk rock? Why not? If that’s what you’re into. Plus a little chorus chanting and gritty bass sound, and what you get is the ideal get-out number for upcoming Sodom shows (perhaps in 2026???). But not to worry, Bombenhagel will remain part of the set. I for one can’t wait … Cheers
Oh, and of course the lyric: We really have to watch out or we’ll end up whiling away as spineless creatures, staggering across this planet as an insignificant species. Perhaps as individuals with implanted chips, with no opinions of our own? Remote-controlled through the data media implanted in our heads? Science fiction? Who knows ...
FRIENDLY FIRE
So, here it is … my favourite on this album. I can hardly believe or indeed describe how much I love this song. I’m pretty sure it sets the direction for our next album. And in the meantime, I’m convinced that it’s the clever sequence and combination of notes in our twelve equal system that makes music (… generally …) so diverse. Lord, I wish we’d known that back then ...
Often in a war situation, soldiers find themselves having to direct their weapons against their own comrades who are holed up close to enemy positions. These victims were accepted as part and parcel of the overall victory. Large numbers of supposed enemy planes were also shot down …
Rock Overdose: The cover artwork for the new record turned out great again. How does the cover relate to the songs / lyrics?
Tom Angelripper: The artwork fits perfect to the music and the lyrical direction. Since my youth I was so impressed by Joe`s work on all the iconic Motörhead covers he did. In 2016 I found his contact on a website and got in touch with him. I talked to Joe about the record title beforehand. Of course, he wanted to have the lyrics and the new songs for it. Then he made a pencil drawing and I gave the green light. Then it starts and he starts shooting sharply. But we are totally enthusiastic about the artwork and of course proud that he worked for us ... it's almost like an accolade
Rock Overdose: Are you already thinking about which of the new songs will make it onto the live setlist?
Tom Angelripper: Oh yes, but we have to wait for the fan reaction, when they listed to the new album. We will change our setlist anyway in the future. There are too many songs that we have never played live before. This is very important to me. A setlist always involves compromises because we have so many classics, we have to promote new songs, but also want to play rarities. It is of course always dependent on the respective running time
Rock Overdose: If you had to make a world ranking for your best live, what place would Greece and your concerts have here?
Tom Angelripper: You are definitely No.1 in Europe, there is no doubt about that. We always enjoy being in Greece. The fans are always very enthusiastic. The organization is always perfect. We always feel at home with you.
Rock Overdose: Let’s hope to finally manage to do your live in March ’21 in Greece…
Tom Angelripper: We hope but we have to wait. But we are optimistic and hope to return to normal life
Rock Overdose: What do you like and hate the most about touring?
Tom Angelripper: I enjoy every minute on stage. The long and uncomfortable journey to the venues is exhausting. I really hate that. But as an internationally known band you have to do that. But we always have energy, to stand it.
Rock Overdose: And for the end, please name us 3 favorite bands of metal of all time?
Tom Angelripper: Motörhead, Venom and Slayer (…of course)
Rock Overdose: Tom, that brings us to the end of the interview. Thank you for the time, I wish you all the best for the new album and I leave the last words to you.
Tom Angelripper: Thank you so much for your loyal support and hope to see you all soon back in Greece. Take care my friends.
For Rock Overdose
Interview: Christos Doukas
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