The band was formed by Tom Angelripper and Aggressor in 1981 in the Western German industrial town of Gelsenkirchen. Initially, they were mostly influenced by bands like Motörhead, Tank, Raven, and Venom. Sodom's own music style would greatly influence many late-1980s and early-1990s thrash and black metal bands, among others.
They soon found a drummer called Bloody Monster who was, however, quickly replaced by Chris Witchhunter, with whom they released two demos, "Witching Metal" and "Victims of Death" in 1982 and 1984, before signing a deal with SPV GmbH. After a gig in Frankfurt in 1984 (with Destruction and Tankard) Manfred Schütz of SPV GmbH came to the band and spoke the legendary sentence "You guys are so bad, you will sell a lot of records!". This led to the recording of their debut EP "In the Sign of Evil". Missing was Aggressor, who had meanwhile left the band. He was replaced by Grave Violator (recommended to the band by Kreator's Mille Petrozza), who also wouldn't stay very long. In his place, Michael Wulf joined, just to leave the band shortly after the recordings of their first full-length album "Obsessed by Cruelty" in 1986 to join Kreator (where he would last only one show). Michael Wulf died in a motorcycle accident in 1993.
After "Obsessed by Cruelty" was released, the band abolished their satanic image and replaced it with the (pacifistic motivated) war theme that can be found on most of Sodom's records. With their new guitarist Frank Blackfire, the most legendary Sodom line-up recorded two albums (plus a live album, "Mortal Way of Live", the first of various Sodom releases which had a censored cover in Germany): "Persecution Mania" (wich was the first Sodom album produced by the band's long-time producer Harris Johns, and also had the first cover that featured the band's mascot "Knarrenheinz") and "Agent Orange" (including the single "Ausgebombt"). This album made Sodom the first German Thrash band to ever enter the charts (it reached number 36 on the German Media Control charts).
Blackfire left in 1989 (like Destructor before he joined Kreator) and was replaced by ex-Assassin guitarist Michael "Micha" Hoffmann.
In 1992 Tom fired Chris Witchhunter, who had alcohol problems. Atomic Steif, who would stay in the band until 1996 (and is, like many former Sodom members, still embittered that Tom fired him) became the new drummer.
From 1997 to 2010, Sodom had a consistent lineup consisting of Tom Angelripper, Konrad "Bobby" Schottkowski (Crows) and Bernemann. In 2001 Tom, who meanwhile also released various solo albums as Onkel Tom Angelripper, has been awarded double platinum for more than 1.000.000 sold Sodom albums.
Sodom collaborated with famous German schlager singer/actor Roberto Blanco in 2011, making a commercial intended to raise awareness of Alzheimer's disease. He also joined them on stage at various gigs (including Wacken 2011) for a metal rendition of his song 'Ein bisschen Spaß muss sein'.
Current members:
* Tom Angelripper (Thomas Such, Onkel Tom) - Vocals/Bass (Desperados)
* Frank Blackfire (Frank Gosdzik) - Guitars (later Mystic) and Kreator) (1987-1989, special appearance in the December 28, 2006 concert in Bochum, 2018–present)
* Yorck Segatz – guitars (2018–present)
* Toni Merkel – drums (2020–present)
Former members:
* Aggressor (Frank Testegen) - Guitars (1983-1984)
* Grave Violator (Pepi Dominic) - Guitars (1984-1985)
* Destructor (Michael Wulf) - Guitars (later Kreator) (1985-1986) R.I.P. in 1993.
* Assator (Uwe Christophers) - Guitars (ex-Darkness) (on tour in 1986)
* Uwe Baltrusch - Guitars (on tour in 1989/1990) (also in Mekong Delta, later House of Spirits)
* Michael Hoffman - Guitars (ex-Assassin) (1990)
* Andy Brings - Guitars (later Powergod) (1991-1995)
* Strahli (Dirk Strahlimeier) - Guitars (1995-1996)
* Chris Witchhunter (Christian Dudek) - Drums (1983-1992) (see also Destruction and Bathory)
* Atomic Steif (Guido Richter) - Drums (later Stahlträger and Assassin), ex-Sacred Chao, ex-Holy Moses, ex-Living Death, ex-Brotós) (1992-1996)
* Bobby Schottkowski - Drums (ex-Crows, ex-Onkel Tom Angelripper) (1997-2010)
* Bernemann (Bernd Kost) - Guitars (ex-Crows) (1996–2018)
* Markus "Makka" Freiwald – drums (2010–2018)
* Stefan "Husky" Hüskens – drums (2018–2020)
Official website:
www.sodomized.info
2) ＳＯＤＯＭ were an early-mid 80's Japanese punk group, who played mid-speed hardcore punk. Their style takes cues from The SS, Discharge, Typhus, as well as American hardcore. They have one tape (Sodom & Requiem) and were featured with 7 songs on the ADK Omnibus Vol.1 compilation.
Fansite:
www.sodom.hu
Resurrection
Sodom Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Your soul disappears in eyes of blue
With dignity and lonely lust
The moon is shining bright to you
Angels adore your mortal dust
Welcome to the paradise
To bring you to the holy place
Eternal life for a human race
Resurrection
Flesh to your bones
Everlasting fortune
You are born
Resurrection
With flowers of gold
Give credence to heaven
Believe in god
Your spirit was willing but your flesh was weak
Don't wanna leave the world of lies
They're standing around when you go to sleep
And give you no chance to say goodbye
Welcome to the paradise
Great master's hands will rise
To bring you to the holy place
Eternal life for a human race
Resurrection
Flesh to your bones
Everlasting fortune
You are born
Resurrection
With flowers of gold
Give credence to heaven
Believe in god
Resurrection
Flesh to your bones
Everlasting fortune
You are born
Resurrection
With flowers of gold
Give credence to heaven
Believe in god
Resurrection
Flesh to your bones
Everlasting fortune
You are born
Resurrection
With flowers of gold
Give credence to heaven
Believe in god
Now you go through a time of revival
Wisdom from above
A kingdom where you find your idol
Worship, liberty and love
Now you go through a time of revival
Wisdom from above
A kingdom where you find your idol
Worship, liberty and love
Resurrection
Flesh to your bones
Everlasting fortune
You are born
Resurrection
With flowers of gold
Give credence to heaven
Believe in god
The lyrics of Sodom's song "Resurrection" depict the idea of life after death and the journey of the soul from this mortal world to the eternal paradise. The song starts by describing the end of a mortal life, where the soul disappears in the "eyes of blue" and moves towards the afterlife with "dignity and lonely lust." The moon shines brightly over the soul's journey as angels adore the "mortal dust" of the departed soul. The song goes on to describe the journey of the soul towards eternal life in heaven, where the great master's hands bring it to the holy place. The lyrics emphasize the idea of "Resurrection" where the departed soul is born again with flesh and bones, and receives everlasting fortune.
The second part of the song describes the struggle of the soul to leave the world of lies as it wants to stay in this mortal sphere. However, the standing ones give it no chance to say goodbye, and the soul moves towards the eternal paradise leaving everything behind. The song again emphasizes the idea of Resurrection, where the departed gets a new life with flowers of gold and a chance to give credence to heaven by believing in God. In the end, the song describes the time of revival, where the departed soul finds wisdom from above and enters into a kingdom of worship, liberty, and love.
Overall, the song "Resurrection" depicts the journey of the soul from this mortal world to the eternal paradise, where it receives a new life with flesh and bones and everlasting fortune.
Line by Line Meaning
Your soul disappears in eyes of blue
You have left this world and your soul has moved on to a better place
With dignity and lonely lust
You left this world with your honor intact, and with a desire for something more
The moon is shining bright to you
Even nature itself recognizes your passing and sheds light on your journey
Angels adore your mortal dust
The forces of good welcome you wherever you are going and are honored to bear you there
Welcome to the paradise
You have arrived at your final destination
Great master's hands will rise
A higher power has guided you on your journey and awaits your arrival
To bring you to the holy place
You are being taken to a sacred realm where all is peaceful and perfect
Eternal life for a human race
You are now part of something larger and unending
Resurrection
You have transcended and been revived into a new state of existence
Flesh to your bones
You are being reformed, familiar but improved
Everlasting fortune
You are blessed with endless abundance
You are born
You have found new life
With flowers of gold
You are being garlanded with the finest things in your new home
Give credence to heaven
To truly live in this new world, you must have faith
Believe in god
Believe in the higher power who guides you in this celestial dimension
Your spirit was willing but your flesh was weak
You yearned for something more even while you were constrained here in the physical world
Don't wanna leave the world of lies
You struggled with the falsehoods and ugliness of the imperfect world you left behind
They're standing around when you go to sleep
The people who surrounded you in life are powerless now that you have departed
And give you no chance to say goodbye
You were never able to take leave of them as you would have wished
Now you go through a time of revival
You are in a state of being reborn and renewed
Wisdom from above
The knowledge you have been granted is beyond that available in the mundane world
A kingdom where you find your idol
You have reached a place where you will be surrounded by what you most admire
Worship, liberty and love
The values most important to you are now fully available to you
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: CRAIG DAVID ROSS, LENNY KRAVITZ
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind