Expurse of Sodomy

Michael "Destructor" Wulf left once Obsessed by Cruelty was recorded, and Frank Blackfire took over the guitar; this is the first record he made with Sodom. Tom Angelripper says the music changed when Blackfire joined, and that the band began writing lyrics about real life in order to put some distance between itself and the black metal scene. One reason he gives is an episode from around 1986: Chris Witchhunter went to the home of Quorthon of Bathory, who had asked him to drum on his next album, and came back so disappointed that he declared he had had enough of black metal. The three songs were recorded in December 1986 at Musiclab Studio in Berlin. Harris Johns recorded them and the band produced. The music is credited to Angelripper, Blackfire and Witchhunter, and the lyrics to Angelripper. The cover artwork is by Bernhard Crossberger. The pairing of Harris Johns and Musiclab carried on to the next year's album, Persecution Mania. Steamhammer released the record as a 12-inch played at 45 rpm, SH 0061, and it also appeared as a picture disc and in an American edition. Rock Hard reviewed it in its issue dated 19 January 1987, calling it a "Maxi". As for the word in the title, Angelripper admits he does not know what "expurse" means: to the band it was a way of expressing something, but they never found it in any dictionary, and it may simply be a misspelling. Later in 1987 the three songs became bonus tracks on the CD of Persecution Mania, together with a newly recorded "Outbreak of Evil".