Sodom - Persecution Mania (1987)

Yeah, yeah, I'm sure a bunch of faggy thrash "enthusiasts" will find their hineys in an uproar after I proclaim this album to be mediocre at best. Fuck 'em. The fact of the matter is that listening to this after the insanely vicious 'Expurse of Sodomy' -ep- was like having some kid come up to you and tag you with a squirt gun right after you just had your head blown off by a bazooka. I mean, talk about anti-fucking-climactic.

Don't get me wrong, this aint a "bad" album, it's just fucking weak, not to mention predictable. If there's one thing that annoys the fucking shit out of me it's a predictable thrash album loaded with riff sequences that seem as if they will not end. Obituary's real fucking good for that one. Don't believe me? Try 'The End Complete'. If you disagree than you are a bonafide fucking moron.

Personally, I think the boys should've held out a little longer until the release of 'Agent Orange', then again, maybe making this stupid fucking album is what was needed in order for things to come full circle.

Persecution Mania is also where Sodom started throwing in annoying punk songs sung in German. The only real winner hear is the guy with the gas-mask on the cover as he so obviously came prepared for this stinker of an album.

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'!