SODOM BIOGRAPHY

SODOM
Biography

Sodom is a thrash metal band from Gelsenkirchen, in Germany's Ruhr area. The band dates its beginnings to 1982, and the bassist and singer Tom Angelripper is the one member who has been there from the start to the present day. Sodom made its debut with the In the Sign of Evil EP in 1985 and, from Obsessed by Cruelty in 1986, built up its catalogue on Steamhammer (SPV). With the guitarist Frank Blackfire it found its shape on Persecution Mania (1987) and Agent Orange (1989), and Agent Orange reached No. 36 on the German album chart. The line-up changed again and again through the 1990s, and after records on GUN Records and Drakkar the band returned to Steamhammer in 2001. From the late 1990s until 2018 it was a trio built around Angelripper and the guitarist Bernemann. In 2018 Angelripper broke up that line-up, brought Blackfire back and made Sodom a four-piece; today the band is Angelripper, Blackfire, the guitarist Yorck Segatz and the drummer Toni Merkel. The Arsonist (2025) reached No. 4 in Germany. With Kreator, Destruction and Tankard, Sodom is named as one of the "Big Four" of German thrash metal.

Beginnings and two demos (1982-1983)

Sodom counts 1982 as its first year. Announcing its fortieth-anniversary record in 2022, the band wrote that it had come into being in 1982 in Gelsenkirchen-Buer (official site, 2022), and Tom Angelripper has said that the band was formed in 1982 under the spell of Venom and the other heavy bands of the day (Decibel, 2012). The 25th anniversary was marked on stage at W:O:A in 2007 (laut.de), the 35th with a show at the Zeche in Bochum on 26 December 2017 (Blabbermouth, 2017), and the 40th with an anniversary album and an autumn tour in 2022 (official site, 2022).

The chart of line-ups the band put on its website in 2003 gives the trio of 1983 as Tom Angelripper, Chris Witchhunter and Aggressor (the band's former website, 2003). According to laut.de, Angelripper, on bass and vocals, was born Thomas Such; Witchhunter, the drummer, was Christian Dudek; and Aggressor, the guitarist, was Frank Testegen (laut.de). Angelripper has since described Witchhunter as the man who formed the band with him (Blabbermouth, 2025).

In Angelripper's memory, nobody had decided at first who would play what, and the bass was simply what was left for him. The band rehearsed in the hall of a secondary school and later in the basement of a friend's parents' house (official site, 2022). Introducing the 1982 EP in 2023, the band looked back to the spring of 1982 and a rehearsal room on Stauderstraße in the Altenessen district of Essen, where "Witching Metal" was put on tape (official site, 2023). According to laut.de, the demos Witching Metal and Victims of Death drew Steamhammer's attention (laut.de); MusicBrainz lists the first as a 1982 recording and the second as a 1983 one.

At the time Angelripper was working underground. His father and his grandfather had both been miners, and it was his father who decided that he would go into the pit as a blacksmith; he spent ten years at the Hugo colliery in the Ruhr (Blabbermouth, 2011).

The first EP and Obsessed by Cruelty (1984-1986)

Tom Angelripper has said that the band signed its first contract at the end of 1983 (Decibel, 2012). laut.de puts the deal in 1984 and tells how it followed a gig the band played on the same bill as Destruction, Tankard and Iron Angel, after which SPV's boss Manfred Schütz offered them a contract (laut.de). Before the first record was made, Aggressor gave way on guitar to Grave Violator (laut.de). Grave Violator, Josef Dominik by name, was in the band from 1984 to 1985 (Blabbermouth, 2008 and 2017).

The first record, the In the Sign of Evil EP, came out on Devil's Game. Rock Hard covered it in January 1985 (Rock Hard), while the discography on the band's website dates it to 1984 (official site). It was played by Angelripper on bass and vocals, Witchhunter on drums and Grave Violator on guitar, with Wolfgang Eichholz producing and Horst Müller engineering (official site). Grave Violator was then replaced by Destructor, Michael Wulf (laut.de), and the first full-length album, Obsessed by Cruelty (1986), was recorded by Angelripper, Witchhunter and Destructor with Rainer Hänsel as producer (official site; laut.de). One of its songs, "After the Deluge", was written for Sodom in 1985 by the guitarist Uwe Christoffers (official site, 2022).

Frank Blackfire, Persecution Mania and Agent Orange (1987-1989)

The next guitarist was Frank Blackfire, born Frank Gosdzik. The band's chronology has him joining in 1987 (the band's former website, 2003), while Blabbermouth gives his first spell as 1986 to 1989 (Blabbermouth, 2017). Persecution Mania (1987) was made by Tom Angelripper, Chris Witchhunter and Blackfire; the band produced it and Harris Johns engineered it, and it includes a cover of Motörhead's "Iron Fist" (official site). The Expurse of Sodomy EP came out the same year (MusicBrainz). According to laut.de, this was when Sodom went on its first real tour, supporting Whiplash, and a show recorded in Düsseldorf became the 1988 live album Mortal Way of Live (laut.de).

Agent Orange (1989) was produced and engineered by Harris Johns, and its cover painting is by Andreas Marschall (official site). The album entered the German album chart at No. 47 in the chart of 24 July 1989, peaked at No. 36 and stayed on the chart for sixteen weeks (Offizielle Deutsche Charts). Of the four bands later called the "Big Four" of German thrash metal, Sodom was the first to reach the official German album chart (Offizielle Deutsche Charts). The single "Ausgebombt" followed the same year (laut.de). It was in 1989, with Agent Orange out and a record company's money behind him, that Angelripper left the pit and began to make his living from music (Blabbermouth, 2011).

Soon after the album's release Blackfire left to join Kreator for its American tour (laut.de); for Kreator he was the former Sodom guitarist brought in for a headlining tour of the United States with Suicidal Tendencies (laut.de). On the European tour with Sepultura that Sodom had already booked, Uwe Baltrusch of Mekong Delta stood in, though he never became a permanent member (laut.de).

Records and line-ups of the early 1990s (1990-1995)

The new guitarist was Michael Hoffmann, formerly of Assassin, whose first show with the band was in Mexico City (laut.de). Hoffmann plays on Better Off Dead (1990) and on the single "The Saw Is the Law" (1991) (laut.de; official site). He later left after an offer to work in Brazil as a sound engineer and guitarist (laut.de).

In 1991 the band took on Andy Brings, who was twenty and still at school (official site, 2024). Tapping the Vein (1992), his first album, entered the German chart at No. 98 in the chart of 21 September 1992 and peaked at No. 56 (Offizielle Deutsche Charts). It was also the last album that the founding drummer, Chris Witchhunter, made as a member of the band (official site, 2024). Tom Angelripper has said that Witchhunter left the band in 1992 (Decibel, 2012), and a show in Cologne that year was his last on stage with Sodom (official site, 2024).

The new drummer was Atomic Steif, Guido Richter, who had played with Living Death and Holy Moses (laut.de). The Aber bitte mit Sahne! EP (1993) had two purposes: to introduce him, and to have new songs ready for the Christmas Metal Meetings tour with Motörhead, Kreator and Entombed at the end of that year. It was also the first time the band worked with the producer Wolfgang Stach (Blabbermouth, 2025).

Angelripper has described Get What You Deserve (1994) as a return to the band's roots, closer to Venom and Motörhead, with Brings's punk background coming through more strongly; "Sodomized" was the first song this line-up wrote (Blabbermouth, 2025). According to laut.de, the label refused to release the album with the sleeve the band had prepared (laut.de); besides the original photograph of a hotel room, there is a version that replaces it with a photo of the band (Blabbermouth, 2025). The album entered the German chart at No. 80 in the chart of 14 February 1994 and peaked at No. 45 (Offizielle Deutsche Charts). The live album Marooned, recorded in Hamburg on a tour with Warpath, came out the same year (laut.de).

Brings left after Get What You Deserve and was succeeded by Dirk "Strahli" Strahlmeier (laut.de), whose studio album with the band is Masquerade in Blood (1995) (laut.de); it peaked at No. 76 in Germany (Offizielle Deutsche Charts). Strahli and Atomic Steif then left one after the other, leaving Angelripper on his own. The contract with Steamhammer had also run out, and in 1996 the label released the best-of Ten Black Years (laut.de).

GUN Records, Drakkar and back to Steamhammer (1996-2001)

Tom Angelripper's new partners were the guitarist Bernemann, Bernd Kost by name, and the drummer Bobby Schottkowski (laut.de; Blabbermouth, 2018). The three made 'Til Death Do Us Unite, released by GUN Records in 1997 (laut.de; MusicBrainz). Angelripper later explained that its cover, a single photographic image combining life, death and an unborn child, was lost on the fans, and that the band went back to soldiers and war for the sleeves that followed (Decibel, 2012). Code Red (1999) came out on Drakkar (MusicBrainz) and brought Harris Johns back as producer (laut.de).

In 2001 the band was back with SPV and released M-16 (laut.de), which reached No. 27 in Germany (Offizielle Deutsche Charts). That summer the trio flew to Bangkok to present M-16 to the press and played a full house at a local venue, the Rockpub. They went back later to record a show at the larger Hollywood club, with Harris Johns doing the recording, and the result was the 2003 live album One Night in Bangkok (SPV, 2004; laut.de).

Ten years as a trio (2002-2010)

In the early 2000s Sodom toured with Tankard, among others, and then went out together with Kreator and Destruction (laut.de). The first part of Lords of Depravity, a film of the band's history, came out at the end of 2005 (laut.de). In January 2006 the band toured the United States with Finntroll, and at the end of April it released the album Sodom (laut.de), which reached No. 64 in Germany (Offizielle Deutsche Charts).

Sodom's set at W:O:A in 2007 was a 25th-anniversary celebration, with nearly all of the band's former guitarists and drummers joining in (laut.de). Angelripper has said that his contact with Chris Witchhunter, broken off since 1992, was restored at the first "class reunion" of Sodom members, and that the idea of re-recording the first mini-album as a full-length with unreleased songs came up there (Decibel, 2012). Angelripper, Witchhunter and Grave Violator re-recorded the songs of In the Sign of Evil together with seven songs written in that period and never released, and the result was The Final Sign of Evil (2007) (laut.de; Blabbermouth, 2008). A double vinyl edition followed on SPV in February 2008 (Blabbermouth, 2008).

Witchhunter died in September 2008; Blabbermouth reported his death on the strength of a notice on the band's website (Blabbermouth, 2008). Angelripper heard the news while Sodom was touring South America (Blabbermouth, 2025). On 11 April 2009 a tribute concert called by the band was held at the Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen, with Sodom, Tankard, Assassin and others on the bill, partly to raise money for Witchhunter's mother (Blabbermouth, 2009).

In War and Pieces, released at the end of 2010 and produced by Waldemar Sorychta, reached No. 64 in Germany (laut.de; Blabbermouth, 2010; Offizielle Deutsche Charts). On it Angelripper finally gave the band's mascot a song of its own, "Knarrenheinz" (laut.de). Shortly after the album came out, in November 2010, the band parted ways with Bobby Schottkowski; its statement gave the reason as personal problems between Angelripper and Schottkowski (laut.de; Blabbermouth, 2010).

The Makka years and the 35th anniversary (2010-2017)

In December 2010 Markus "Makka" Freiwald, formerly of Despair among other bands, was announced as the new drummer (Blabbermouth, 2010). Because of the change, the first few shows of the In War and Pieces tour were cancelled (laut.de).

The band's thirtieth year, 2012, brought 30 Years Sodomized 1982-2012, a box set on Steamhammer with unreleased rehearsals, live recordings and pre-productions. That year Tom Angelripper also put together The Witchhunter Decade, a double CD of songs he chose himself as a tribute to Chris Witchhunter (Decibel, 2012). Epitome of Torture (2013) was recorded in the autumn of 2012 at the Waldstreet Sound Studio in Dortmund, again with Waldemar Sorychta producing (laut.de), and reached No. 32 in Germany (Offizielle Deutsche Charts). The Sacred Warpath EP followed in 2014 (MusicBrainz).

Decision Day (2016) reached No. 7 in Germany (Offizielle Deutsche Charts). Angelripper has said that its songs grew out of a weekly jam in the rehearsal room, and that, with no release date set by the label, the band took six months to record it at a studio near his home town (Blabbermouth, 2017). On 26 December 2017 Sodom played its 35th-anniversary show at the Zeche in Bochum, joined by three former guitarists: Grave Violator, Frank Blackfire and Andy Brings (Blabbermouth, 2017).

The 2018 change and a four-piece (2018-2020)

On 5 January 2018 Tom Angelripper announced that he had parted ways with Bernemann and Makka. Makka had been in the band for almost eight years and Bernemann for more than twenty, and Angelripper explained that he wanted to start again with fresh, hungry musicians before routine got in the way of the band's creative work (Blabbermouth, 2018). Within days the two answered in a joint statement: they agreed that they and Angelripper had drifted apart, said they had already recorded many ideas for the next album, and said that Angelripper had ended the partnership through WhatsApp without listening to any of the new material (Blabbermouth, 2018).

The new line-up, announced later that month, brought back Frank Blackfire, who had also played with Kreator and Assassin, and added Yorck Segatz of Beyondition on second guitar and Stefan "Husky" Hüskens, of Asphyx and Desaster, on drums; the trio became a four-piece. Angelripper said that all three were Sodom fans through and through and that all of them lived in Essen (Blabbermouth, 2018). This line-up released the Partisan EP in the autumn of 2018 (laut.de) and, in November 2019, the Out of the Frontline Trench EP, with three new songs and new studio and live recordings of two older ones (Blabbermouth, 2020).

In January 2020 Husky announced that changes at his full-time job and other matters meant he had to leave (Blabbermouth, 2020), and before the month was out Toni Merkel had been named as the band's new drummer (Blabbermouth, 2020).

From Genesis XIX to The Arsonist (2020-2026)

In June 2020 the band went into Woodhouse Studio in Hagen with the producer Siggi Bemm to record Genesis XIX (Blabbermouth, 2020). It was mastered by Patrick W. Engel, with cover art by Joe Petagno, known for his work for Motörhead, and came out in November 2020 on Steamhammer (SPV) in Europe and on eOne in North America (Blabbermouth, 2025). It reached No. 10 in Germany (Offizielle Deutsche Charts). In August 2021 came the Bombenhagel EP, named after a song on Persecution Mania. It had been meant for the summer festival season, Angelripper explained, but with the festivals pushed back a year the band released it anyway as a sign of life (Blabbermouth, 2021).

For the fortieth anniversary, in October 2022, Sodom released 40 Years at War - The Greatest Hell of Sodom, on which the current four-piece re-recorded one song from each of the band's earlier albums, in the original keys, with the original lyrics and with the arrangements left as they were; the cover is by Eliran Kantor. The box set added a four-song EP, including a new song, "1982", that looks back on the band's beginnings, and a book with an introduction by Angelripper about the early days (official site, 2022). Ahead of the release, in September 2022, the band dedicated the lyric video for the album's "After the Deluge" to its recently deceased friend and former guitarist Uwe Christoffers (official site, 2022). The album reached No. 6 in Germany (Offizielle Deutsche Charts). In November 2023 SPV/Steamhammer released the 1982 EP, with "1982" and new recordings of early songs (official site, 2023; Blabbermouth, 2025).

On 15 November 2024 Noise/BMG reissued Tapping the Vein (1992) in expanded form, with the original album remastered, a new mix by Andy Brings and, in the largest edition, recordings of the band's 1992 shows in Tokyo, Düsseldorf and Cologne (official site, 2024). The reissue reached No. 3 in Germany (Offizielle Deutsche Charts).

The Arsonist, released by Steamhammer (SPV) on 27 June 2025, was made with the drums recorded on a 24-track analogue tape machine, and all four members wrote for it; Angelripper noted that Merkel, also a capable guitarist, contributed several songs (official site, 2025). Its song "Witchhunter" is dedicated to Chris Witchhunter, and its video was made by Andy Brings (Blabbermouth, 2025). The album reached No. 4 in Germany, the band's highest position for a new studio album (Offizielle Deutsche Charts).

In the spring of 2025 Angelripper announced that he would cut back the band's live work sharply, to make time for his family, his old friends and his passion for hunting; he called it a break and not the end of the band (Blabbermouth, 2025). In February 2026 he said that SPV held an option on another album and that he expected a new record to be discussed within the next year or two (Blabbermouth, 2026).

Atomic Steif, the band's drummer in the first half of the 1990s, died on 31 August 2025, aged 57 (Blabbermouth, 2025). In February 2026 BMG reissued Get What You Deserve, the album he played on, in an expanded edition newly mixed and remastered by Andy Brings; the box set also holds the Aber bitte mit Sahne! EP and a recording of his first concert with the band (Blabbermouth, 2025). The reissue reached No. 5 in Germany (Offizielle Deutsche Charts). In Japan, Marquee Inc. released Get What You Deserve (SHM-CD) (MICP-30232) on 24 June 2026, with the album's sixteen tracks in the 2026 remaster and the four songs of the Aber bitte mit Sahne! EP (Marquee Inc.).

The "Big Four" of German thrash

Sodom is counted with Kreator, Destruction and Tankard among the "Big Four" of German thrash metal (Blabbermouth, 2023), and the four go back together to the 1980s. According to laut.de, Destruction and Tankard were also on the bill of the gig that led to Sodom's first record deal (laut.de). Tom Angelripper remembers a stronger sense of rivalry among the four when they were young bands, comparing guitarists and who got a record deal first (Blabbermouth, 2024). In the early 2000s Sodom toured with Kreator and Destruction (laut.de). On the two Nuclear Blast 10-inch records that carry the four bands' names, The Big Teutonic 4 (2013) and The Big Teutonic 4 – Part II (2015), Sodom's contributions are Motörhead's "Iron Fist" and Tank's "Don't Walk Away" (MusicBrainz).

According to Angelripper, all four bands played Mexico Metal Fest in 2022 (Blabbermouth, 2024). On 31 July 2023 Kreator announced the Klash of the Ruhrpott, a festival at the Amphitheater in Gelsenkirchen on 20 July 2024, which Blabbermouth reported as the long-awaited union of the "Teutonic Big Four"; Angelripper said he was glad to share the stage with his old companions at last (Blabbermouth, 2023). Kreator headlined on the night, and a severe weather warning forced it to end its set after ten songs (Blabbermouth, 2024).

Speaking in 2022, Angelripper said that Destruction is more of a thrash metal band than Sodom, and that Sodom has more black metal and heavy metal influences (Blabbermouth, 2023).

Tom Angelripper's other work

Since the mid-1990s Tom Angelripper has also made records away from Sodom, at first under his own name and later as Onkel Tom. Ein schöner Tag (1996) gave mostly German popular songs a punk and metal treatment, with Jörg Michael on drums, and Ein Tröpfchen voller Glück, two years later, featured the Dezperadoz guitarist Alex Kraft and Bobby Schottkowski. Christmas songs and drinking songs followed, and from Nunc Est Bibendum (2011) the records were built mainly on original songs (laut.de). Angelripper himself counts his albums with Sodom, Onkel Tom, Dezperadoz and a number of other side projects as his body of work (Blabbermouth, 2025), and laut.de notes that around 2008 he was also active with a band called Die Knappen (laut.de).

Members

The band today is the following four (official site).

Member	Role	Years
Tom Angelripper (born Thomas Such)	Vocals, bass	1982-
Frank Blackfire (born Frank Gosdzik)	Guitar	1987-1989, 2018-
Yorck Segatz	Guitar	2018-
Toni Merkel	Drums	2020-

Former members (the band's former website, 2003; laut.de; Blabbermouth).

Member	Role	Years
Chris Witchhunter (born Christian Dudek)	Drums	1982-1992
Aggressor (born Frank Testegen)	Guitar	The early days to 1984
Grave Violator (born Josef Dominik)	Guitar	1984-1985
Destructor (born Michael Wulf)	Guitar	Obsessed by Cruelty (1986)
Michael Hoffmann	Guitar	1990-1991
Andy Brings	Guitar	1991-1995
Atomic Steif (born Guido Richter)	Drums	1992-1995
Strahli (born Dirk Strahlmeier)	Guitar	Masquerade in Blood (1995)
Bernemann (born Bernd Kost)	Guitar	1996-2018
Bobby Schottkowski	Drums	1996-2010
Makka (born Markus Freiwald)	Drums	2010-2018
Husky (born Stefan Hüskens)	Drums	2018-2020

Concerts in Japan

Sodom first played Japan in 1991. According to the biography Ward Records printed for its Japanese edition of Decision Day in 2016, Better Off Dead (1990) was the band's first album released in Japan, and the first Japanese concerts followed the next year (Ward Records). Looking back in 2015, Tom Angelripper remembered that there was no support band on that first visit and that the band played for more than two hours (HMV).

The band returned in 1992 on the Tapping the Vein tour. A recording of its Tokyo show is one of three previously unreleased 1992 concerts, with Düsseldorf and Cologne, on the expanded reissue of that album issued by Noise/BMG on 15 November 2024 (the band's website; HMV). SPV/Steamhammer's 2012 box 30 Years Sodomized 1982-2012 already included "Body Parts" from a 1992 concert in Japan (Blabbermouth).

In May 2002 the band joined Dying Fetus and Dimension Zero on Extreme The Dojo Vol.3, a series promoted by SMASH, playing Shibuya Club Quattro in Tokyo on the 27th, Nagoya Club Quattro on the 29th and Shinsaibashi Club Quattro in Osaka on the 30th. Doors opened at 18:00 and the shows began at 19:00; advance tickets were 4,000 yen with one drink (SMASH).

On 16 and 17 September 2006 the band played both days of Thrash Domination 06, the thrash festival at Club Citta' in Kawasaki, with Death Angel, Onslaught and the special guest Dragonlord (the Thrash Domination website; the band's website). Venom, who had also been announced, withdrew in the week of the festival because Cronos had been taken ill (Blabbermouth).

The second Thrash Domination appearance came on 21 and 22 March 2015. It was the tenth edition of the festival, which had begun in 2004, and Overkill, Exodus and Sodom all played on both days; doors opened at 15:00, the music began at 16:00, and advance tickets cost 9,800 yen (the Thrash Domination website; Tower Records; HMV). The organiser's timetable put Sodom on first on both days, for 80 minutes from 16:00 to 17:20 (the Thrash Domination website). Ward Records noted that it was the band's first appearance at the festival since 2006 (Ward Records). Five songs from the second day's set are on the bonus DVD of the Japanese first pressing of Decision Day, released in Japan ahead of other countries on 19 August 2016 (Ward Records; BARKS).

Sodom was also billed for Thrash Domination 2020, on 20 and 21 September 2020 with Overkill and Voivod, announced with a special "Agent Orange" show, but on 4 July 2020 the organiser cancelled that edition because of COVID-19 (the Thrash Domination website).

Date	Venue	Show	Source
27 May 2002	Shibuya Club Quattro (Tokyo)	Extreme The Dojo Vol.3	SMASH
29 May 2002	Nagoya Club Quattro (Nagoya)	Extreme The Dojo Vol.3	SMASH
30 May 2002	Shinsaibashi Club Quattro (Osaka)	Extreme The Dojo Vol.3	SMASH
16 September 2006	Club Citta' (Kawasaki)	Thrash Domination 06	Thrash Domination website; the band's website
17 September 2006	Club Citta' (Kawasaki)	Thrash Domination 06	Thrash Domination website; the band's website
21 March 2015	Club Citta' (Kawasaki)	Thrash Domination 2015	Thrash Domination website; Tower Records
22 March 2015	Club Citta' (Kawasaki)	Thrash Domination 2015	Thrash Domination website; Tower Records; BARKS

About the sources

The sources are Sodom's official website (sodomized.info), its release pages and news; the line-up chart on the band's former website of 2003, as preserved by the Internet Archive; SPV's 2004 page for One Night in Bangkok, also from the Internet Archive; the Offizielle Deutsche Charts; Blabbermouth.net; laut.de; the German magazine Rock Hard; Decibel; and Marquee Inc.'s product page. The labels of the records, and the years of the EPs, singles, live albums and videos, were checked against MusicBrainz. The chapter on the concerts in Japan rests on the announcements and articles of Ward Records, SMASH, the Thrash Domination website, Tower Records, HMV and BARKS.