the year was 1985 and thrash was alive and kicking but it was bands like metallic and anthrax and overkill, bands that ruled but they weren't so pissed off. they were about drinking beer and having fun and skateboarding and wearing tennis shorts instead of chains and leather. on the other side of the world, there were bands in the cold vastlands of germany that weren't like their fellow thrashers in california. these guys weren't about having hair as fluffy as possible (no disrespect to the california thrashers), these guys were pissed as they could be and they weren't about sunlight and skateboards and singing about politics and ***. no songs based off comic books either. the band that was the most extreme was sodom, and they were pissed.
obsessed by cruelty is one of the most underrated albums ever because most people are familiar with sodom's newer *** like m-16 and in war and pieces, which is good thrash for sure, especially m-16 which is considered a classic by thrash novices like grant, but let's be honest - singing about guns and *** is like something lynyrd skynyrd would do. now i'm not comparing sodom to lynyrd skynyrd cause skynyrd is way gayer and sodom is true, but most new sodom fans don't know about the true evil side of their music. not skynyrd's music, sodom's music. in the mid-80's, sodom was known for being unknown by all except euronymous and his friends. while the california guys were still listening to turbo and i'm sure lars probably secretly liked ratt, the cold ice warriors of europe were listening to the first sodom album, which is the most underrated album ever.
obsessed by cruelty is nonstop raw power. this is cold, grim and fast, and it invokes images of dungeons on dark days with german torture barbarians and metal. no chugging riffs, no songs about guns, no bull***, just nonstop grim thrash, so evil and so over the top. the lyrics are about sluts and satan, the two favorite things of any hardcore german in 1985. there is a rumor sodom opened for helloween on the tour for this album and beat their asses. it's easy to see why if one listens to this music. the music is so ***ing metal. deathlike silence inspired euronymous to name his record label and albums like this paved the way for black metal. all the songs are nonstop thrash.
so if you like good thrash and are not a pussy, check this out. most people dont get albums like this, but it's hard to see why. people claim to be true thrashers who care about metal, but come on, grant hasnt even heard this. and progmaster sure as *** hasnt, he has the black album at a 5. false metallers are all over this site and it makes me sick. what would justice detty think if he saw the low ass score for this piece of sick proto-black thrash grim***fest? he'd be pissed, and i'm not justice detty, but i'm pissed too. 5 this on all your alts if you care about metal, cause this is even better than agent orange. it was before they could play instruments or even sing. tom's vocals are like satan himself. i know you guys wanted a serious review but a serious christgau-esque review wouldnt do this justice that it deserves. just pos this if you care about metal.
