Released: April 26, 2013
By 2013, Sodom had been unmistakable for three decades. Tom Angelripper’s corroded bark, Bernemann’s serrated guitar tone, and the band’s view of war from ground level needed no explanation. Epitome of Torture was their first studio album with drummer Markus “Makka” Freiwald, and his arrival raises a question. Sodom rarely has to face: how much does cleaner, more exact playing change a band whose character comes partly from grime and instinct?
Freiwald contributed to the writing, bringing more speed and tighter gear changes into the rehearsal room. Waldemar Sorychta, returning after producing In War and Pieces, gives those changes enough clarity to register. The kick drum remains distinct beneath the guitar, the fills snap back into the riff, and the rapid sections rarely blur. Tom’s bass occupies a thick strip beneath Bernemann, especially when the songs drop into slower grooves.
“My Final Bullet” shows how much the trio can now fit inside one arrangement. A clean arpeggio opens the record before an urgent thrash riff takes over, with a melodic guitar line wrapped around the chorus. Near the end, Freiwald’s double bass drives beneath Tom’s repeated “Thy will be done” and Bernemann’s solo. Each new part builds naturally from the previous one, giving the song shape beyond a simple race to the finish.
“S.O.D.O.M.” uses the tighter playing for something more direct. Its punk-flavoured pre-chorus leads into a spelled-out crowd chant that Tom first improvised in rehearsal as a tribute to the band and its fans. The title track settles into a blocky mid-tempo riff, with the drums keeping its repetition firm and deliberate. Neither song needs a complicated arrangement. The hooks come from how firmly the trio locks in together.
“Stigmatized” makes the strongest case for Freiwald’s effect on the band. It runs for less than three minutes, pushes into one of the album’s fastest attacks, and drops Tom into a much lower, more guttural vocal style. He recorded the song several ways before he and Sorychta settled on the death-metal rasp. Against Freiwald’s clipped fills and rapid kick work, that voice makes the song sound especially hostile. Speed remains useful because every change can still be heard.
The album also gives Bernemann more room. “Cannibal” is a four-minute instrumental built around a thick, hardcore-tinged groove, leaving the guitar textures and Freiwald’s accents to take the place of a vocal hook. “Tracing the Victim” opens up for longer melodic lines, while “Into the Skies of War” trades thrash velocity for a rolling rhythm inspired by Motörhead and Tank. Its recurring lead melody says more than another shouted chorus would have.
“Katjuscha” connects that wider musical range to Tom’s usual subject matter. Bernemann quotes the melody associated with the Soviet song “Katyusha,” then folds it into a song about the rocket launcher that inherited the same name. A familiar tune becomes part of a tightly controlled military rhythm. Across the record, violence appears through its machinery and terminology: bullets, launchers, firing orders, torture methods, and people reduced to targets. Even the self-tribute of “S.O.D.O.M.” sounds like a temporary break from a world organized around killing.
So how much does tighter playing change Sodom? It widens what the trio can do. Freiwald helps “Stigmatized” run at full speed, gives “Cannibal” room to settle into its groove, and allows “Katjuscha” to hold melody against a mechanical rhythm. The band’s identity still lives in Tom’s bark, Bernemann’s rough guitar, and their shared distrust of organized violence. On Epitome of Torture, accuracy exposes the details inside Sodom’s ugliness, making every scrape easier to hear.
Written by Rob Joncas for DeadNoteMedia.
Artist information and music courtesy of the band.
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