Review: Sodom – Agent Orange
Jun 05
Sodom – Agent Orange
Review
While the ‘Big Four’ were laying their groundwork for thrash in the US throughout the ‘80s, the ‘Big Three’ were doing likewise across the pond in Germany. Sodom, the brother component of the Three, alongside Destruction and Kreator, that most often sported future influences of death and black metal, released their cornerstone album, Agent Orange in 1989 a record that not only established them as important fixtures in the underground metal world, but also proved to be a commercial success for the band. While it provided only a temporary break into the mainstream of the metal genre, the record displayed an all-around thrash mastery and established a recognizable trademark sound for the band.
The effort starts off the title track, a song with a grandiose Master of Puppets-esque intro, with slow, epic power chords before appropriately kicking into the high tempo thrash that characterizes the album as a whole. Tom Angelripper snarls his way through all the tracks with his signature not-quite-yelling, not-quite-growling vocals, while also laying down some great bass tracks. In a good segway, the album flows into Tired and Red which sports an elongated instrumental intro and some fiery lead word by guitarist Frank Blackfire. Guitars on all the tracks are what makes good thrash what it is: fast, loud, and unrelenting, and while they mostly follow the bass tracks laid down by songwriter Tom Angelripper, they are given enough room on every song to stretch their wings in the way of leads and solos. An interesting sidetrack of ‘Agent Orange’ can be found in Ausgebombt, an almost hardcore punk song that mirrors more Motorhead than it does Slayer. While different, the song is a welcome flavor to mix things up, and does a good job to portray a future era of the band, when they later focus on a more cross-over thrash sound. Immediately afterwards, the band jumps straight back into the thrash wagon with Baptism of Fire, another song that, with others like Exhibition Bout and Magic Dragon, make the album the great German thrash centerpiece that it is. Sodom closes the record with Don’t Walk Away, a Tank cover that the showcases the band’s British heavy metal influences, and one they do quite a good job putting their more aggressive sound into.
While not a masterpiece album, nor even sporting much in the way of stand-out tracks, Agent Orange stands on its own as a great all-around trash album. With solid production, tight riffing, and an aggressive signature sound, Sodom cemented themselves as thrash kings with the record, and it’s one that any metal fan should have in their collection.
8/10
