Sodom – In War And Pieces (2010)

1.  In War And Pieces – 4:11
2.  Hellfire- 3:07
3.  Through Toxic Veins – 4:43
4.  Nothing Counts More Than Blood – 3:48
5.  Storm Raging Up – 5:08
6.  Feigned Death Throes – 3:59
7.  Soul Contraband – 3:50
8.  God Bless You – 5:11
9.  The Arty Of Killing Poetry – 4:38
10.  Knarrenheinz – 3:17
11.  Styptic Parasite – 5:13

Names.  To know the name of a thing many centuries ago was to hold power of this thing.  The belief in the power of words and their magical effect holding strong. But just like a politician’s beliefs once he attains the power he craves, belief has changed over the years. To know the name of a thing or person now is to hold the power of expectation: to know the name of a great actor is to expect his/her movie/play will be of sufficient quality to be greatly enjoyed.  Unless you are a critic of course.  Despite the best, and expensive, efforts of Marketing and Advertising firms across the world, word-of-mouth will forever reign as the predominant form of trust in the inherent qualities of any release or product.

Sodom. A name of biblical significance that a Germanic Metal band of some significance bears the moniker of.  A name chosen no doubt because of its historic associations.  Detail will not be gone into.  Knowledge will be presumed.  A name whose denizens are spoken in cliques and drunken reveries the world over alongside titans like Kreator.  Such history and respect.

The opening track begins with a nice Middle-Eastern style acoustic, segueing into a groove-laden heavy, Death Angel-Killing Season-esque riff before being spoiled immediately by the vocals.  Not just reminiscent, but sounding like an exact copy of Tom Araya’s frustratingly-lacking new vocal style first heard on God Hates Us All, an album that divided many Slayer fans but, thankfully, not as much as when Metallica threw away their Metal banner and chose the path of Rock (despite proclaiming themselves to still be Metal by clinging on to their decent past releases pre-Black album) at least Slayer can lay claim to still be one of the heaviest bands on the planet.  No, the problem was more one of expectation.

The disappointment of the opening two tracks is almost, but not quite, dispelled when Monsieur Angelripper breaks into a more Death Metal voice for the chorus (and a voice that sounds and feels more natural to the listener) on ‘Through Toxic Veins’ which adds a more interesting dynamic to the music, however brief its introduction.  Later tracks allow this style a much freer reign, granting it what feels like centre stage for the second half of the album and it is this that should have opened. After all, first impressions last. Don’t they?

However, there are too many songs on this album which seem to blend together.  There is no distinction.  Technically it is excellent but riffs and ideas can be interchanged from the finished whole.  There is no feeling that the song titles and accompanying lyrics have actually been thought to sync with  the music that has been created.  Perhaps they were an afterthought.  Like Phil Anslemo’s apology after his disparaging comments before the death of Dimebag Darrell.  Oh my, what a faux pa.

Forgive one for sounding like the fanatical harbinger of doom that invades the personal space of anyone that dares near his loudspeaker outside Oxford Circus, but this is not really a bad album.  It is enjoyable, subconsciously forces the head to bang along with the (not often enough) crushing rhythms.  It ticks off all the correct boxes (heavy, fast in places, screaming angry-sounding vocals, solos in all the right places, riffage) but this is the album’s inherent problem.  Ticking off boxes is all well-and-good when one is attempting to create a particular mood but knowing the technical details of creating such heaviness is not creative and this is the problem with this album. It is not creative.  It treads through the mire of all of the banal releases of recent and past but is unable to raise its head to be noticed, its banner lost amongst the melee that surrounds it.  It plods. Its plodding beginning with its opening likeness to the much superior Death Angel

Any fan that listens to this album is not going to be disappointed, the album is certainly not slow (it’s not true thrash either) and there is heaviness in there and on tracks like Knarrenheinz, the faster of the tracks on the album, there is the obligatory solo in all the right places.  But one is left feeling disappointed because one expects so much more.  When one considers this band in the same illustrious company of Kreator, one immediately brings to mind Cause For Conflict.  An album with aggression, hate and intelligence that this album is trying to be.  If it is a question of age mellowing the soul, Enemy Of God is argument against such a thesis as aggression is the overriding aesthetic when listening to that album.  Again, comparisons are easy.

Unfortunately, they fail.  After all, this is a Sodom album.  Which brings us to the subject of names.  Power they still hold.  Now clouding our judgement through the mists of expectation.  But it is a power that clings rather than conquers and this is an album that will not conquer.

Pseudo-journalists and fans may like to talk of a thrash-revival, but this is merely a matter of focus.  Thrash has always been here since its inception.  However, new bands like Evile, Gama Bomb and Bonded By Blood have that natural aggression that is missing from some of the more famous titans of the genre.  In War And Pieces is an album unworthy to even be considered alongside better releases from younger bands with hunger and vision.  Just ‘cos it’s “Metal” don’t mean it’s good.