The group recorded the album, Get What You Deserve. The death metal influences were out; the influence of punk came in. Get What You Deserve had an arguably grotesque album cover (featuring a dead man shot and lying in his bed with a woman tied-up nearby), and many fans did not take to the band’s new direction. This period also marked the beginning of less international visibility for the band as thrash lost its commercial viability for the remainder of the 1990s. Angelripper also started a solo career doing metal impressions of drinking songs, German schlagers and even Christmas-type carols. A live album was recorded of the tour in support of the resulting album called Marooned – Live.
Masquerade in Blood, in the same vein as the previous album, was released in 1995. Again another guitarist had to be found. The new choice, Strahli, did not stay very long with the band. He was arrested and imprisoned on drug-related matters, and the band had since lost contact with him, until January 2011, when they learned he had died in Düsseldorf. Atomic Steif also left and again Angelripper needed to search for new members. These were found: a guitarist in Bernemann and a drummer in Bobby Schottkowski. This line-up stabilized the band significantly and lasted until December 2010, when Schottkowski left.
Return to thrash metal (1998-2008)
The album ‘Til Death Do Us Unite featured a controversial album cover, depicting a woman’s pregnant belly and a man’s beer gut pressing in a human skull together. This album marked the beginning of Sodom’s return to thrash but was more along the lines of a thrash-crossover sound and had much in common with bands like Suicidal Tendencies. It also spawned the song for which Sodom would make their most famous music video, the highly-controversial song “Fuck The Police.” After this album, Sodom returned to the studio and released Code Red in 1999 which marked a full return to the Teutonic thrash metal sound of the 1980s, and it was met with praise from fans and press alike. A limited edition featured a bonus CD containing a tribute to Sodom album, Homage to the Gods. With 2001 came the release of M-16, a concept album about the movie Apocalypse Now, which took its title from the famed M16 assault rifle. A tour followed with the other two big German thrash metal bands Kreator and Destruction, but Sodom ended up going on its own halfway through the tour due to a feud between Destruction bassist Marcel Schirmer and Tom Angelripper. Destruction claimed Sodom ripped off their music and sound.
In 2003, a double live album was recorded in Bangkok, Thailand, titled One Night in Bangkok. A new album simply titled Sodom was released in 2006, in the same vein as M-16. The title was chosen – as Angelripper explained it – because every band needs a self-titled album, and the band had never released one. The album was delayed however, because the DVD Lords of Depravity took more time to compose than initially thought.
In 2007, Tom was asked by the record label Steamhammer for any tracks to be released on the In The Sign Of Evil EP. Tom believed there were, and the label floated the idea to Tom to get ex-members Chris Witchhunter and Grave Violator (real name: Franz Josef Peppi) to re-record the EP with the bonus tracks. The result became The Final Sign of Evil. Chris “Witchhunter” Dudek died on 7 September 2008 from liver failure after a long battle with illness.
Recent activities (2009 onward)
In 2009, Sodom returned to the UK to play their first show in 20 years at Bloodstock Open Air.
In War and Pieces, Sodom’s latest album, was released in Europe on November 22, 2010, and released in North America on January 11, 2011.[4] On November 30, 2010, it was announced that Bobby Schottkowski would be leaving the band, due to “personal and private problems” between Tom Angelripper and Schottkowski.[5] On December 8, 2010, Markus “Makka” Freiwald was announced to be Sodom’s new drummer.
Sodom is currently writing a new album, which they plan to record in May 2012. A tentative late summer release is expected.
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