Sodom is a German thrash metal band formed in 1981. Original line-up were Tom Angelripper, Chris Witchhunter and Aggressor. Taking inspiration from bands such as Motörhead and Venom, they released two demos which led to a record deal with Steamhammer. Aggressor left the band shortly before releasing the In the Sign of Evil EP, and was replaced by Grave Violator, who did not last long himself. On the debut album Obsessed by Cruelty he was replaced by Destructor. However, after the release Destructor left the band to join Kreator.
Thereafter their break-through album Persecution Mania was released with yet another guitarist, Frank Blackfire. A live album Mortal Way of Live followed. The next album made Sodom famous; Agent Orange was released in 1989. Since then, Sodom is one of the three big names of German Thrash metal; the others are Kreator and Destruction. Again a new guitarist was to be found as Blackfire also left the band to join Kreator. The replacement was found in Michael Hoffman.
In this line-up the Better Off Dead album was released in 1990. During the South American tour however, Hoffman decided to stay in Brazil and therefore was forced to quit. His replacement was found in Andy Brings and a new album was recorded, titled Tapping the Vein, which was more death metal influenced than before. Although harder than before, Tapping The Vein was arguably Sodom's finest effort and remains a most exciting album in their catalog. This proved to be the last album with the drummer Witchhunter who quit because of lack of interest in metal music. Atomic Steif found his way behind the drumkit.
This line-up now, recorded the next album, Get What You Deserve. Out were the death metal influence, in came the hardcore influences. Despite a terrible album cover, Get What You Deserve was a major step forward for the band artistically although many fans were disappointed with the new direction. Also, this marked the beginning of less international visibility for Sodom as thrash lost it's commercial viability for the remainder of the 1990's. At this time Angelripper also started a solo career doing metal impressions of drinking songs, German schlagers and even Xmassy Carols. Another live album was recorded of the tour in support of this album called Marooned - Live.
