This is Sodom's zenith, their magnum opus, and probably their most definitive album. And one man made that possible. Frank Blackfire. I am of the opinion that without Blackfire, Sodom would still be making primitive and noisy black/thrash and would have never ascended to the level of greatness. Just look at the sudden change that happened when Blackfire joined. 'Persecution Mania' (1987) was the band's first full length release with Blackfire on guitar and according to some sources, he was the man that persuaded Tom Angelripper to focus on political lyrics and better songwriting. 'Persecution Mania' was a huge jump forward from 'Obsessed by Cruelty' (1986), but did 'Agent Orange' make any more progress? The answer is... No. The only real difference between the two is that the songs are longer, they have a bit more variation and the track listing is also better.

As I said before, this album is ALMOST a carbon copy of 'Persecution Mania'. Hell, even the production is the same. Sodom didn't take a huge leap forward, but instead they solidified all the elements of 'Persecution Mania'. If it isn't broke, don't fix it.

One thing to note here is the American thrash influence. A great way to describe this album would be 'Persecution Mania' + 'Master of Puppets' + Some New York thrash. The core component is German thrash, but there are a lot of "foreign" influences here. Most of the songs go into a slightly long and slower section after the second chorus, which is a nod to Metallica's 'Master of Puppets' (1986). However, unlike Metallica, Sodom manage to keep things interesting in these slower parts. How? The NY thrash metal "thrash break". And these thrash breaks have some variety too, with my personal favorite being the one in 'Tired and Red' thanks to the NWOBHM flair.

The track listing is excellent. After listening to the first three tracks, one might get a little tired. Just when he/she is about to eject the CD... BOOM! 'Remember the Fallen' starts to play and grabs your attention. 'Magic Dragon' appears to follow the same formula as 'Remember the Fallen' but then suddenly goes into a faster section. In the first three songs, the transition was from fast to slow, but in 'Magic Dragon' it's the opposite. Five songs, all five are killers, but unfortunately the first filler comes in the form of 'Exhibition Bout'. Nothing special here, so I suggest you just press the skip button. If you do, you will be rewarded with one of Sodom's most well known songs, 'Ausgebombt'. An awesome track; has a cool Motörhead vibe to it. I suggest you eject the CD after 'Ausgebombt' because even though 'Baptism of Fire' is a decent track, it isn't anything solid.

Now for the individual performances. The only thing here that stands out is Frank Blackfire, his riffs are catchy and brutal but the most important part about Blackfire was his influence over the direction Sodom would take. He single handedly turned Sodom into legends, in my opinion, and played a part in Angelripper's sudden change in lyrical themes. Witchhunter's drumming is awkward at times, and it's often very poorly timed. It's still an improvement over 'Obsessed by Cruelty' and 'Persecution Mania' though. Angelripper's bass is decent, but it's his vocal performance that stands out. He has a serious, cynical and evil aura around him and it really adds to the overall rating of the album. Even is 'Ausgebombt', he manages to sound evil, a type of "evil" that only Angelripper knows how to deploy.

Overall, it's a fucking sweet album. One of the best thrash releases ever. The only downsides here are the drumming and the two boring tracks. Other than that, the good far outweighs the bad. This is one of the few thrash metal albums that truly deserves the "essential" title. Recommended to fans of thrash metal and also people who want to explore the realm of thrash.

Reviewed by MegaHassan
11/14/2008 15:58

Talk about thrash metal quality, intelligent, intense, aggressive, ever changing and original release here. A monumental one in all aspects. It shows some similarities to Kreator's 'Coma of Souls' (1990), which is a definite one that is from another German descent, but Sodom rips it up here showing that they too can measure up to the genius syndrome. Riffs are fast, technical, intense and totally amazing. Too bad like other bands they just went downhill after their peak albums were delivered. I would think that bands would get even better and evolve rather than cop out and play things that they think listeners want to hear. I would say it's wrong to think that in music, but it happens so often.

Thrash metal bands like old Metallica, Exodus, Testament, Kreator, Sepultura and Sodom all reigned during an 80's minor 90's eras. A lot of them just lost it, but other bands like Destruction and even Kreator are belting out solid releases. Testament too, but Sodom's newer material isn't even close to being original like 'Agent Orange' is. This band totally annihilates here, and to give a higher than 100% if it existed. You get rock solid production quality here and chunky guitar riffs that explode and also areas that are just groove based. So it's not entirely intense all the way through, but shows variety in songwriting abilities.

The solos by Frank Blackfire (ex-Kreator) are just technical and amazing all over the fretboard. Angeripper's voice doesn't sound like Schmier's on this one, it seemed more original than his, although not many thrash metal bands that I consider to be good on the vocals. Many exceptions, but as a whole, the intensity and quality reign in the music. However, I will detract and say that Angelripper just kicks ass and his voice on here sounds more like Dave Mustaine's via Megadeth. Though there are just similarities, but it's kind of coincidental. Some people favor Megadeth, but I've never been a huge fan of the band.

The originality on this album is so supreme and exasperating in quality, groove, intensity, variety, technicality and originality. Though I pointed out some similarities to other legend bands, Sodom just reigns supreme here and conquers, releasing their best album out of their entire discography. I'd conclude that it's better to purchase a newer CD because you get a bonus and it's not very expensive. We've explored the originality and amazing songwriting here, even though as a 3-piece, they still ripped your ears apart with their aggression and full obliteration of thrash metal imploded on this planet.

Those are my thoughts here, so in closing, I'd have to say that the scene in the higher 80's era seemed to be the best overall types of thrash metal invigorating albums that reign supreme with their intensity plus aggression galore. No song on this album is bad or uninteresting. All tracks deserve mention because they're all in intensity mixed with laying back grooves, but all in all, are aggressive as hell. This album is up there with Sepultura's 'Beneath the Remains' (1989), Kreator's 'Coma of Souls', Destruction's 'Release from Agony' (1988), et al. If this is missing in your collection, evaluate and simply invest in it because it's much worth getting and deafening to the ears.

Rating: 10 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Death8699
08/24/2013 19:11