Interview with SODOM's Tom Angelripper

"It's time to die!"

 Nearly 40 years since their formation, Sodom proves their metal attack gets nastier with each year. Their upcoming album Genesis XIX is a thoroughly headbanging affair. It marks the return of guitarist Frank Blackfire, who shredded on their landmark albums Persecution Mania (1987) and 89's Agent Orange, as well as the addition of second guitarist Yorck Segatz, for Sodom's first run as a quartet. 

Genesis XIX delivers the heavy artillery one expects from Sodom. It's got the punk influence on it's catchy single "Sodom and Gomorrah", reminiscent of their original, dearly departed drummer Chris Witchhunter (RIP). Songs like "Dehumanized" and "Nicht Meir Mein Land" feature blast beats from their new drummer Toni Merkel, with the latter sinking into an infectiously groovy mid-tempo swagger.

Vocalist and bassist Tom Angelripper is the driving force of Sodom. His raspy vocals and distorted bass are the centerpiece of this album, a ferocious presence that only seems to grow more aggressive with time. 

I spoke with Mr. Angelripper over the phone about Sodom's new album, and memories of yesteryear. 

Photo by Moritz “Mumpi” Künster

HELL-O Tom! Did you ever think you'd be reunited with Frank Blackfire?
Tom Angelripper: I'm so glad Frank is back on the guitars. I remember when I was looking for a second guitarist in the band. I was always talking about two guitars in the band. We had a 35 anniversary show and Frank was the guest guitarist on stage. It's amazing because Frank never changed. He has the same guitar sound as in the eighties, playing the same style. I like the new album. It's good to have two guitarists in the band.

A lot of people say they like Sodom with three members. I'm a big fan of old Motorhead, Tank, with three members. Getting a second guitarist in the band you can make more songs. It's better to do it live. You can change the set list and play new songs live you never played before.

What's one of your favorite songs on Genesis XIX?
It's always hard to say, you know? My favorite track is "Friendly Fire." It's the last one on the album. It's so powerful. Lots of energy. There is also blast beats in it. Sodom was the heaviest band in the beginning and the fastest band. Now we have a new drummer who is able to do it. We have Tony Merkel. He's not so famous, but I think he's one of the best drummer in my area. He's technically very good drummers. Sometimes remembering like Dave Lombardo on the drums. But also, he's very interested in Chris Witchhunter's drumming. He tries to copy Witchhunter in a special way but technically more perfect.

Many of my friends are big fans of your original drummer, the late and great Chris Witchhunter. What was it like forming a band with Mr. Witchhutner?
It was great. Because he was my best friend in those times. It was a problem for the guitarists sometimes, because Chris and me were best friends. That's also the reason why Frank left the band in '88-89, because he couldn't work with Chris anymore. Because Chris...he was my friend and he was an alcoholic. And Frank had the chance to play in Kreator for the US Tour. Chris was always my best friend. But when I kicked him out of the band in '92 that was very hard for him. It was also very hard decision for me. And for Andy Brings, who was in the band, to get a new drummer. But if you're an alcoholic we couldn't work with him. You have to keep the project moving forward. So that was the best decision to kick him out the band and get a new drummer. But I know that was very sad for him. He tried to form his own band called Witchhunter but he never got fixed. It was a big problem for him.

Did you remain friends with Chris after he left Sodom?
No, not really. He was always angry and he was always pissed off. We tried to get him back when we played the 25 years anniversary show at Wacken, with all the ex members on stage and a big two hour set list. But he was not able to play drums. We did The Final Sign Of Evil (2007) record. That was the last one we did with Chris because we had a couple songs left from the In The Sign Of Evil recording sessions. But that was really hard because he was really sick and he had a lot of problems playing drums. But he never forgave me.

Do you have any fond memories from back in the day with Chris Witchhunter?
The last which I remember, when we recorded Agent Orange in the studio. There was always a big problem between Frank and Chris. There was a lot of fights between them. I remember the last stage when we started mixing the album. Frank and Chris never talked. Frank told me, "When I finish this recording session with Agent Orange, I will leave the band. I can't work with Chris anymore." So he asked me to kick Chris out of the band and I said "No way. Chris is my friend. Chris was with the band from the beginning." 

When Frank left the band for Kreator that was a bad situation for us all. We had to find a new guitarist two weeks before we go on tour. But Frank is a cool guy, When Bernemann left the band I called Frank to join Sodom again and he said Okay, I want to come back to Sodom, I have so many Ideas.

I've always applauded Sodom for your lyrics over the years. Beginning with occult, black metal lyrics like "Masturbate to kill myself," then moving to war and societal themes. What were the lyrical inspirations for your new album?
There were so many. I think the main theme of this record, Genesis is something from the bible. And also Sodom and Gomorrah, when God destroyed Sodom, because its sinful cities. But that's something fantasy. I think the main theme on the new album is the world we're living in. In my opinion its world wide, it's not just Germany and Europe. It's out of control. It's something I got to write down. I'm so scared about. We have the Corona crisis worldwide which is a really bad situation for musician and artists. No body's going to help us. But it's everything around us. When I read the newspapers and TV news there's so much bad things happening. I'm really scared about the future. But I'm not scared about myself. I'm scared about the next generation growing up in this fucking world. There's a couple songs on this album like "Nicht Mein Mehr Land," with German Lyrics, and "Occult Perpetrator." These songs are about the world we're living in.

Going back to your first albums, In The Sign Of Evil and Obsessed By Cruelty. Those records are highly regarded as major inspiration to the black metal scene. Did you ever think they'd become cult classics?
No. Never. When Obsessed By Cruelty came out before '82, nobody was talking about Black Metal. There was the first and second Venom record Black Metal. But these days there's so many contacts to Scandinavian Black metal scene and bands and fans who think Obsessed By Cruelty is the best Sodom album ever. I can't agree but I know what they mean. I remember when we do shows in Scandinavia the people want to hear the first two albums. But it's a shame because they're not interested in the newer stuff. We have so many albums out now. Obsessed By Cruelty is a really bad album in my opinion. The music, and the lyrics. But this is what the Scandinavian black metal fans like so much. The music is getting out of control. It's not perfect played, the guitar is out of tune, but it's also what the people like. When Venom came out people were like it's the worst band, but it isn't. But if you listen to venom you will see the songs are perfectly arranged, very good songs and very good lyrics. But I stand 100% with everything I did. When we play live next time we're talking about doing more Obsessed By Cruelty or stuff from the demo tapes. It's very interesting. It's like doing a cover song. When you listen to Obsessed By Cruelty you can't tell what's going on. 

I had a couple books from Aleister Crowley. I was very interested. I think the black metal in the beginning was kind of fashion. It was never serious. It was a kind of fashion doing lyrics like this and writing music. I wanted to shock my parents and our teachers and everything. We started making music to shock everyone around us. Nowadays you cannot shock anyone anymore, it's just heavy metal. It's nothing special. 

Sodom has four decades worth of music. What do you think is the most underrated Sodom album?
There's an album Masquerade in Blood, and there's also the self-titled Sodom album. Which is underrated. There's so many good songs on that like Axis of Evil, Buried In the justice Ground, but the sound was very bad. Nowadays if you want to do an album you have to try to get everything perfect. The sound, the cover art, the arrangement, the promotion, everything. But we never mind. I don't give a shit about the reviews. I think we have so many success because we know exactly what the fans want when they buy a Sodom album. I'm not interested in what other people say. The record company is very satisfied with the selling of Genesis XIX. It's very good pre-selling. I'm not interested if there's any bad critics of reviews.

One thing I appreciate Sodom is you stayed consistently heavy throughout the nineties, when a lot of your peers experimented or changed their sounds. Myself and several of my friends are big fans of the Tapping The Vein record.
Or Get What You Deserve is my favorite album. It's so rushed. We recorded the songs live in the studio. There's no overdubs on it. Which was a very good idea. I think Tapping The Vein was bigger, bigger production, Witchhunter on the drums. Get What You Deserve and Masquerade In Blood  were the heaviest albums that came out in the nineties. A lot of bands got more commercial or got more melodic. Because record selling was very less in this time. The record companies tried to dictate the music. We never once did that. We just did the music we wanted to do. Which is get the music as heavy as possible. I think Get What You Deserve is heavier than Agent Orange or Persecution Mania. 

What do you hope to do in the future?
We have to come back to US America. In all the interviews we did with US markets people say “why you don't come?” We have to find a serious promoter to get us over. US America bands are touring in Germany and Europe it's not a problem. The thing is you have get the working fees and license to get us over. We need a serious promoter who will do his job so we don't get no problems when we arrive there by plane. But all the shows are cancelled now anymore. I don't know what's going on now.

What is one ene album that holds a special place in your heart?
I think my all time favorite album is the first Tank album Filth Hounds Of Hades. I think this album for me personally. It's not Motorhead or Venom but It's really something special to me personally. When I listen to this album I get all the remembrance coming back, you know. That's really my favorite album. There's so much emotions. There was the first girlfriend, that was the first cigarette, that was the first beer you know. All the remembrance coming back when I listen to that album.

What do you want to say to your fans?
Especially to the US fans, I want to tell you that we really try to do something in the next year to get back to the US. Maybe for a tour or get some festivals. People always ask why are all the bands touring in America. We play South America all the time. We want to come back to North America as soon as possible. I promise you when everything is fixed, we will come back .

Thank you Tom Angelripper for going ONE ON ONE WITH THE GRIM-1. Sodom's new album Genesis XIX arrives on November 27. Get it here via E-One.