Sodom torch the rulebook on The Arsonist, a ferocious analog assault that proves four decades in, they’re still writing the manual on thrash with fire and fury.
Four decades deep and still raising hell, Sodom are back with The Arsonist, their first full-length since 2020 and one of their most urgent records yet.
This time around, Tom Angelripper and company ditched the digital safety net. The drums were recorded straight to 24-track tape with no editing and no samples, just pure analog heat. “No plastic,” says Angelripper, who credits the old-school approach with giving the album its punch and presence.
But raw sound is only half the story. The Arsonist also marks a creative high point for the band, with Angelripper, Frank Blackfire, York Segatz, and Toni Merkel all contributing to the songwriting. Blackfire brings the bite, Segatz leans into the epic, and Merkel, who also plays guitar, helps stitch it all together with muscle and finesse.
The first single “Trigger Discipline” hits like a sniper’s bullet - fast, fatal, and unflinching. The song explores the psyche of a killer unmoored from reality, driven by chaos and carnage.
With mastering by Eroc and a blistering cover by Zbigniew M. Bielak (Ghost, Mayhem), The Arsonist sounds, and looks, like a band still in the business of total destruction.