By ABOUT THE ALBUM OF THE WEEK DESIGNATION PROCESS
What’s good, Metalheads?
I’ve decided to start a new feature on here, simply called Album of the Week. As you likely guessed, I pick a new album every week to do a deep-dive on and give my feedback about. Many of these will likely be “older” albums because I am trying to learn and re-learn some fundamentals of the various subgenres of Metal. I gotta know my shit, ya know?
So what’s up on the slab this week?
It’s Agent Orange, by German Thrash greats SODOM.
TRACKLISTING:
1. Agent Orange
2. Tired and Red
3. Incest
4. Remember the Fallen
5. Magic Dragon
6. Exhibition Bout
7. Ausgebombt
8. Baptism of Fire
9. Don’t Walk Away (TANK cover)
Total play time: 40:14
This 1989 classic just turned 37 as of June 1st, so we’re making it the first installation of HailsWebzine’s new “Album of the Week” series, where I pick an album (new or old) to highlight for the week. I’ll do my best to present interesting info about the albums chosen, and my overall thoughts on them.
Why on Wednesdays and not Mondays? Well, I figured the week usually drags its ass for most of us, so I tried to make things a little better by making “Hump Days” about killer Metal albums to maybe help you regain some momentum.
Album of the Week features may or may not be more in depth than regular album reviews here on the site; it’s going to depend on a few different factors, like how much I know about the album, my interest level in expanding my knowledge on said album, and anything interesting and shareable I’ve gleaned from deep-diving on it.
While I’m certainly no stranger to Metal itself, I have yet to discover a lot of bands and albums! It’s an exciting process and I wanted to share it with you. So I figured one way I could go about it is picking a different, “older” album each week to pick apart. What a fun way to expand my knowledge and repertoire with the various subgenres!
This is part of my wee learning… “thing” (I hate the word “journey”; it reeks of cliches) I’m on about over here on HailsWebzine.
So I don’t have a plethora of knowledge on German Thrash OR on the dudes of SODOM, but we’re gonna do a dive anyway and maybe learn some stuff together!
A THING OR TWO ABOUT SODOM
Just so’s ya knows, SODOM are celebrated amongst other Teutonic heavy hitters like KREATOR, TANKARD, and DESTRUCTION as classic German Thrash.
The band formed in 1981 or 1982 (I’ve seen conflicting information) in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
Even though they take their name from a Biblical city that was destroyed by the Abrahamic God for its “wickedness”, their lyrical content tends to be more about war and human suffering than religious/irreligious stuff.
The only constant and founding member, vocalist/bassist Tom Angelripper, previously worked as a coal miner for about a decade. He was also a conscript in the German army, heavily coloring his lyrical fascination with war.
SODOMmight be Thrash legends, but their 1980s EPs were so out-there for their time that they’ve been highly influential on a lot of Black and Death Metal bands, and other bands who draw heavily from the occult, as well.
Even frequently covering heavy military and historical topics throughout their career, they only ever released one fully conceptual album—2001’s M-16 (which I personally prefer over Agent Orange). The album is heavily based on classic Vietnam War movies, particularly Apocalypse Now and Platoon.
Agent Orange and Persecution Mania are often recommended starting points for those dipping into SODOM’s catalog.
Kinda like IRON MAIDEN has Eddie, SODOM have a gas-masked fella named Knarrenheinz for a “mascot”. He appears on several album covers.
The band have a pretty hefty discography; they have so far released sixteen studio albums, three live albums, two compilations, a DVD, two EPs, three singles, and two demos.
Listeners who appreciate raw, gritty guitar riffs, punk energy, and uncompromising lyrical themes of war and human conflict will find a lot to enjoy in their discography.
A THING OR TWO ABOUT THE ALBUM
Agent Orange became one of the very first Thrash Metal albums to enter the official German music charts.
It is the band’s third album. It was their last with guitarist Frank Blackfire (ex-KREATOR) until his return in 2018.
The sound technically fits under the umbrella of Thrash, but lumping it in with Death Metal or even Speed Metal isn’t amiss either.
Like a lot of Thrash records, and a number of SODOM’s other records, Agent Orange deals almost entirely with the themes of war and human rights issues, specifically during the era of the Vietnam War (which occurred from 1954 to 1975).
The album takes its name from a chemical, which was originally developed as a herbicide and a defoliant, but used later in warfare by U.S. forces against Vietnamese civilians and fighters alike (but the American soldiers got exposed to a lot of it, too) during that most bleak and divisive affair.
For a little backstory:
The Soviet Union and China supplied weapons, training, and funds to the communist North Vietnam.
Meanwhile, the United States supplied massive ground troops, funding, and bombing campaigns to support the anti-communist South Vietnam.
The U.S. sprayed over 11 million gallons of Agent Orange across Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos between 1962 and 1971 to strip trees of their leaves and kill ground vegetation, as well as to starve out “the enemy”.
Agent Orange contains something called dioxin. Exposure to dioxin-contaminated Agent Orange has been linked to severe, generational health issues for millions of Vietnamese civilians, as well as American and allied veterans. It has caused everything from cancers, to neurological disorders, to birth defects, and continues to affect survivors to this day.
The album’s liner notes carry the message: “This album is dedicated to all people – soldiers and civilians – who died by senseless aggressions of wars all over the world.”
WHAT’S SO GOOD ABOUT IT?
It’s got exceptionally straightforward aggression and power, and devastating drum and guitar passages strewn throughout.
Aside from the title track, “Agent Orange”, I also dig “Magic Dragon” a lot (I imagine the guys who flew those things in ‘Nam would probably have rocked out to this song), and I really liked the searing guitar solo on “Baptism of Fire”, which is technical and melancholic in parts.
And the way the acoustic interlude in “Tired and Red” gives way to a breakdown and then a solo? Delicious.
It has been noted that Agent Orange’s sound is heavily inspired by the Punk band DISCHARGE.
The album concludes with a fun and rather upbeat sounding cover of TANK’s “Don’t Walk Away”. I love when albums have a little twist to them like that, something to vary up the darkness a little!
WHAT COULD BE BETTER?
I found “Ausgebombt” kinda repetitive but I appreciate its Punk roots. “Remember the Fallen” is alright and meant to be anthemic and inspiring, but it’s probably my other least favorite track.
That being said, there’s certainly no “bad” song on this record.
ALBUM RATING:
A solid 8/10 HORNS.
RECOMMENDED FOR THOSE WHO ENJOY:
ACCEPT, MOTÖRHEAD, VENOM, DISCHARGE, and of course TANKARD, KREATOR, and DESTRUCTION
ALBUM PERSONNEL
Tom Angelripper – vocals, bass
Frank Blackfire – guitars
Chris Witchunter – drums
Harris Johns – production, engineering, mixing
Andreas Marschall – cover art
Manfred Eisenblätter – photography
WHERE TO LISTEN?
I listened to the album in playlist form on YouTube here.
SODOM-RELATED LINKS
Official website here.
Online merch store (US) here.
