Sodom – ‘Lords Of Depravity Part II’ DVD (Steamhammer/SPV)
Written by Darrel Sutton
Saturday, 25 September 2010 05:00
Having watched this quite stunning DVD collection I have to begin by holding my hands up in shame. You see, many, many moons ago I invested some pretty scarce pennies on Sodom’s second album ‘Obsessed By Cruelty’. Having gotten into Kreator, Destruction and Tankard in a very big way it seemed logical that Sodom would supply my German thrash kicks with similar aplomb. Oh no. It’s fairly well documented that Sodom’s early efforts never set the world alight and to be honest my disappointment in said album pretty much put the band off my radar for quite some time. However having seen this collection, which covers the years 1995 to 2009, it would appear my ignorance was my loss, big time. The live DVD, recorded at Wacken in 2007, highlights just how goddamned good this band has been and still is, but we’ll get onto that in a bit.
Disc One consists of a 3+ hours documentary detailing the aforementioned years. Beginning with the band’s resurrection in 1995, when founder Tom Angelripper recruited drummer Bobby and guitarist Bernemann who remain in the band to this day, the fascinating montage makes you realise just how influential, groundbreaking and downright committed the band have been to the cause of producing ear-splitting thrash of the highest quality. Recorded in their native German tongue with subtitles, the tales of playing three sets in one night at the behest of a serious biker gang, being one of the first major bands to tour South America and playing some seriously huge festivals in Europe really gets you under the skin of the band. Encompassing great triumphs with devastating tragedy (the untimely passing of former drummer Chris Witchhunter), it’s a great documentary.
Disc Two consists primarily of the band’s 25th Anniversary show at Wacken in 2007, and is two hours of the best thrash metal show you will see. After about an hour of watching this show I’m basically thinking to myself, “How fucking good is this and how much of a fucking idiot have you been for ignoring this band for so long?” Their 20 song set, played to some 50,000, is pretty flawless, from speedsters like ‘Blasphemer’ to songs such as ‘Frozen Screams’, ‘The Vice Of Killing’ or ‘Napalm In The Morning’ which have that mid paced groove that make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and compel you the bang your fucking head. They wheel out all manner of past members for various numbers and they all put in some storming performances and give off a real family reunion vibe. When they all troop onstage for a storming climax of ‘Bombenhagel’ you almost feel like punching the air in triumph from the comfort of your settee. An absolute gem of a concert which is an absolute must for anyone who has banged that head that would not bang. The consistency, quality and sheer musicianship on show is beyond reproach and the sound is absolutely fucking amazing.
A couple of promo videos for ‘Fuck The Police’ (excellent) and ‘City Of God’ (some great South American concert footage) along with some deleted scenes round out an already superb package and when you consider in total you get about six hours of top notch thrash for what most online retailers are flogging for under £15 you really cannot go wrong. In fact make a thrasher happy and buy them something they can stage-dive along with the family to in their Christmas jumper, if they can wait that long that is.