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Sodom - The Final Sign Of Evil review




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7.09
Band: Sodom
Album: The Final Sign Of Evil
Release date: September 2007


01. The Sin Of Sodom
02. Blasphemer
03. Ashes To Ashes
04. Witching Metal
05. Sons Of Hell
06. Burst Command 'Til War
07. Where Angels Die
08. Sepulchral Voice
09. Hatred Of The Gods
10. Bloody Corpse
11. Outbreak Of Evil
12. Defloration

Re-recording classic songs has been a fad of sorts in the thrash metal world in the last few years. Testament, Anthrax and Destruction are the most well known and publicized such projects and now it seems that Germany's notorious Sodom has decided to also jump on this bandwagon. As it turns out; however, The Final Sign Of Evil is a significantly different beast than similar nostalgic releases by other bands.

First of all, this is not a compilation. Instead, this is supposedly what In The Sign Of Evil would have sounded like were the band's label at the time able to support them with enough funds to record all of the songs that have been written for the occasion (instead, only the 5 songs that appear on the original EP were recorded). Actually, I'm more than willing to believe that this is indeed what this album would have sounded like since Sodom also decided to mix it in pretty much the same way (ie. probably on some ancient 4-track fished out from Angelripper's grim and evil garage) and all of the original members of the band from that time are also present on this recording. Now let me tell you, although Onkel Tom's bass playing and vocals have improved over the years, it seems like the other two members from that era have spent the last two decades doing anything but honing their skills as musicians. The tempos waver, the guitar makes tonnes of mistakes and a grand total of perhaps 6 chords are being used here. The whole thing sounds like it was found is some damp attic and not recorded in 2007 AD. This is a far cry from Anthrax' technically impressive Greater Of Two Evils, no? Still, let me tell you - none of this matters...

Sodom have moved onto far more interesting things after their In The Sign Of Evil EP; however, due to the muffled production, high intensity and 'evil' lyrical content, their first release is still considered to be one of the crucial influences on black metal and extreme metal in general, easily in the same category as Venom, Hellhammer or Bathory. Indeed, I never understood why Sodom wasn't ever included in the so-called First Wave of Black Metal, considering those other bands were also essentially thrash bands specializing in a primitive and blunt approach... Well, I think The Final Sign Of Evil will certainly be great fun for anyone enjoying these traditional, primitive and obscure proto-Black Metal sounds. Fans of Darkthrone or Carpathian Forest need to check this out. Cuts like "Blasphemer" or "Outbreak Of Evil" are still some of the best examples how powerful metal can be with such a simplistic approach.

This album will get you to think about impaling your cat, wearing satanic jewelery and wishing you weren't "born too late" (a pat on the back to anyone who knows where that's from). Recommended to fans of early Sodom, First Wave Black Metal and modern traditional Black Metal. Everyone else - keep away!





Written on 10.09.2007 by With Metal Storm since 2002, jupitreas has been subjecting the masses to his reviews for quite a while now. He lives in Warsaw, Poland, where he does his best to avoid prosecution for being so cool.


Comments

Comments: 11   Visited by: 169 users
10.09.2007 - 14:27
Baz Anderson

I couldn't believe that had been re-recorded recently!! it sounds so old and sloppy..
still, I think this is worth listening to - like you said it is indeed intense and nicely extreme
maybe it does sound a little black-ish in places but I don't hear a lot there.. for me this is just a dirty thrash metal album
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10.09.2007 - 16:19
Hyvaarin

Very interested in getting my hands on a copy. Hopefully it'll be in stores here before too long.
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"Summoned By Words Never Spoken Before..."
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10.09.2007 - 16:50
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Written by Baz Anderson on 10.09.2007 at 14:27

I couldn't believe that had been re-recorded recently!! it sounds so old and sloppy..
still, I think this is worth listening to - like you said it is indeed intense and nicely extreme
maybe it does sound a little black-ish in places but I don't hear a lot there.. for me this is just a drity thrash metal album


Of course it is thrash, dirty sloppy and, IMO, crappy thrash. That's all it is, that so-called black in their sound people only started talking about somewhere in the early to mid nineties before that no-one ever mentioned it at all.
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Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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10.09.2007 - 18:29
jupitreas
hi-fi / lo-life
never said it was black metal... its primitive and simplistic thrash that proved to be an influence on black metal (proto-black metal if u will). this isnt music for everyone but then again, i dont think the intention behind this release was to please everyone. this is just for people digging this particular brand of thrash and as such, well - its a remade classic.
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10.09.2007 - 19:34
Basso
Account deleted
Thrash they way I love it, sloppy , raw, dirty and FUN!
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12.09.2007 - 10:19
Rating: 7
DrunkenFuck
Thrasher!
Fast and aggressive! Definately getting this one.
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THRASH!!!
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13.09.2007 - 15:36
okt31
Account deleted
Well, as the reviewer said, I should be a fan of early Sodom, or any form of (crappy) black metal. Well, I'm not and I enjoy the recording. IMO this gives justice to that failure of debut EP. It sounds forceful and thrashy. It's very nice. Not to mention that it's nowhere near of Agent Orange or even Persecution Mania, but it's a very good release. The other songs are great, as well
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13.09.2007 - 19:21
Fane

Edit: And now I have it Awesome album imo. Blasphemer!!
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Coffee for power
Music for creativity
Sarcasm for fun
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15.09.2007 - 00:02
Rating: 7
Doc G.
Full Grown Hoser
Sounds slightly disapointing, but at the same time sounds like something id like. Ill definitly be picking this one up.
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"I got a lot of really good ideas, problem is, most of them suck."
- George Carlin
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29.09.2007 - 20:11
DigitalGrind
Account deleted
Yeah and again best german trashers is here,good one good ;]
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09.10.2008 - 23:40
Southern Wind
Account deleted
When a band begins to re-record classic albums it is usually a sign that the creative process is being very poor... ask Dimmu Borgir, ask Hypocrisy (not that Catch 22 is a classic but imo is one of the best albums by them). The Final Sign Of Evil is horrible, a worthless butchery of the old great times. The same dirty sloppiness that Marcel always whins about but without that evil spirit that made that EP so great.
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