Sodom - Expurse of Sodomy [ep] (1987)

Perhaps the anomaly among Sodom's releases as the band were beginning to hone their skills as musicians yet still managing to retain that evil vibe of their earlier works. Hell, I'd even go so far as to deem this their most evil sounding release to date. I'll never forget hearing the beginning riff of 'Sodomy & Lust' and then hearing for the first time Tom Angelripper's evil witch cackle chime in (yes, this was my first excursion into Sodom). I was fucking mesmerized and blown away at the same time. Prior to this 'Reign in Blood' was pretty much the "be all end all" of metal to me, so to hear the stakes raised like this was a bit shocking to me. I had pretty much assumed, hell, I'd have even guaranteed that NO ONE would have been able to surpass the aural bestiality committed on Slayer's crowning achievement until my soul was ripped out from within me, raped and spat upon by this hostile little 'ep'.

Admittedly I was a wee bit bummed when 'Persecution Mania' came out. I was expecting the same ripping savagery of 'Expurse...' yet I did, and still do find 'Agent Orange' to be a masterpiece and perhaps the band's pinnacle moment, but for the experience of sheer violence, nothing quite does it for me like 'Expurse of Sodomy'!