Review Summary: One of the few perfect albums
4 of 5 thought this review was well writtenIt is so rare to find an album where every song is bordering on perfection. In fact, only four such albums come to mind-Coma Of Souls, Hordes Of Chaos, None So Vile and this, Sodom's Agent Orange. Their 1989 thrash opus contains 8 songs, and clocks in at a rather short 37 minutes, but in that time, it dishes out more punishment than most albums out there combined.
Every song on this album is a complete masterpiece. From the untraditional song structuring of the title track to the utter wrecking ball that is Magic Dragon, through to the thrilling closer Baptism Of Fire. Each song on here is packed with riffs of the highest quality, of varying tempo. However, it is not only the riffs on here that are varied. The entire album has a lot of variety going for it to ensure that the listener does not get bored.
Agent Orange kicks the album off as one of the most shocking songs on the album, building up for a while, before playing extremely fast for a while, and then, suddenly, slowing down into a groovier section such as the one found in Slayer's Angel Of Death. Then, it explodes again for the incredible solo and a fast final minute of the song. This is the definition of thrash, combining fantastic war lyrics with the most aggressive vocal performance Angelripper would do until Tapping The Vein in the 1990s.
Ausgebombt is a punk song that Sodom nail better than many of the punk bands out there, containing some nice gang vocals, and an aggressive performance. Incest is a slightly slower number that packs no less a punch than the rest of the album, and Magic Dragon Starts off slow before launching into an absolute thrashing assault on your ears that very few songs can rival.
However, the best song on this album is by far Remember The Fallen. This is a haunting memorial to all of the war heroes that have died, and is such a passionate song. It is a lot slower than the rest of the album, containing some bludgeoning mid-paced riffs that will tear your brain from your head straight away. If you are not knocked flat on your arse by this song, you really can not be human, as this is the sheer meaning of the word "incredible". This song really does set the standard for a thrash song, and is the band's crowning achievement.
The guitar work on this album is the highlight, as with any thrash album. It is incredible the amount of amazingly well written riffs the band manages to place on this album, all of which will tear the listeners face off. The band did not pull any punches when writing for this album. Tom Angelripper is as aggressive as ever on here, putting in his second best vocal performance, behind Tapping The Vein. The drums are jawdropping on here, being very fast and aggressive, much like everything else that is going on left, right and centre.
This album contains absolutely no songs that i consider filler, as they are all good for their own reasons. Exhibition Bout is probably the weakest song on here, but that does not make it a bad song by any means. In fact, this song is still light years ahead of many other band's entire discographies, such is the perfection of this release. This is the bands finest album, by a long way. 5/5
