Agent Orange

The classification of the "Big Four" of thrash metal from the US can be a topic open to discussion, concerning which bands should be included. While Metallica and Slayer are unquestionable choices, determining the third and fourth positions is less straightforward. Why prioritize Megadeth and Anthrax over contenders like Exodus or Testament, or even Dark Angel and Overkill?

In contrast, the European "Big Four" appears more unequivocal, arguably leaning towards a "Big Four of Germany" rather than a broader European representation. Kreator, Sodom, Destruction, and Tankard are undoubtedly the frontrunners, with their positions hardly subject to debate. Although the American thrash metal giants enjoy greater popularity and mainstream recognition, the German counterparts remain somewhat still underground. However, this doesn't diminish the undeniable quality of their music. Each of these German bands has consistently delivered a plethora of jaw-dropping albums, predominantly characterized by their violent and aggressive thrash metal sound—undoubtedly emblematic of true metal.

While this intro statement may not be directly tied to the album and the review, it underscores a significant point: the Germans are just as crucial to the thrash metal genre as the Americans.

I've chosen to review "Agent Orange" for two compelling reasons: it stands as my all-time favourite Sodom album and arguably my preferred thrash metal record of all times. The music of Agent Orange, while perhaps not enjoying the same level of recognition as its American counterparts, has nothing to envy when it comes to raw power and distinct style.

Before delving into the actual review, let's take a moment to explore who Sodom was at the time leading up to the release of "Agent Orange". Sodom holds a venerable status as one of the pioneers of extreme metal, boasting an impressive 42-year existence—an achievement that is truly remarkable. The band originated as a black/speed metal outfit, delving into the same aggressive and extreme realms of metal that would later give rise to various subgenres of this music like Black, Thrash and Death. Drawing influence from the metal legends of their time, Sodom became a substantial influence in their own right, particularly within the European metal scene.

True to their metal spirit and as genuine fans of the genre, Sodom never strayed from their roots or abandoned the essence of metal. In their early days, they embraced a black-ish metal sound on their first EP and debut album, aligning with the initial wave of black metal, which essentially embodies extreme metal and serves as the foundation for all subsequent subgenres, as mentioned before. However, as early as their second album, they deliberately shaped their sound and trajectory, leaving behind the black elements and actively contributing to the formation of what would later be recognized as thrash metal.

"Persecution Mania" marked their venture into thrash, with just a few remnants of black/extreme elements persisting. However, with "Agent Orange", Sodom delivered a pure thrash metal masterpiece, devoid of any lingering black influences—a validation to the band's evolution and mastery within the genre.

The shift from cult satanic/anti-christian lyrics to anti-war themes is notably evident, becoming a trademark evolution for the band. This transformation is underscored by the album's dedication, clearly stated on both the original insert and subsequent booklet, honouring "all people – soldiers and civilians – who died by senseless aggressions of wars all over the world." The majority of the album's tracks draw inspiration from the theme of war, a departure from their earlier lyrical content.

For instance, the self-titled song delves into the use of tactical herbicides by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War, specifically targeting the leaves of trees providing cover for the enemy. "Magic Dragon" centres around the Douglas AC-47 Spooky, a fixed-wing gunship used by the United States Air Force in the same conflict, earning the nickname "Puff, the Magic Dragon". "Remember the Fallen" emerges as an anti-war anthem, emphasizing the tragic consequences of war and paying homage to all individuals, be they soldiers or civilians, who lost their lives in such conflicts. "Ausgebombt", translating to "bombed out" in English, maintains thematic ties to war, exploring the devastation and aftermath of bombings. We can find a German version as well and I have read that the song is possibly about Germany being bombed during WW2.

There are also some non war related songs, such as the hymn "Incest", which retains a connection to the band's earlier style, exploring the taboo subject of engaging in sexual relationships with siblings. Notably, the song doesn't approach this theme in a judgmental manner but rather expresses a favourable stance toward the idea. While this topic may initially come across as provocative, it serves a specific purpose within the metal genre, aiming to shock and provoke a reaction from the audience.

"Baptism of Fire" delves into the downfall of mankind and the broader consequences for the world due to human actions. "Tired and Red" explores various painful, vicious, and gruesome ways to meet one's end, potentially having ties to the theme of war. Finally, "Exhibition Bout" centres on the subject of professional bullfighters, suggesting that they deserve facing death as a consequence of their unjustified cruelty towards innocent animals. This diversified lyrical approach not only showcases the band's versatility but also underscores their willingness to tackle various social and political themes, in an effort to elicit strong reactions and provoke thought among their audience—an essential characteristic in the realm of metal music.

Regarding the musical composition, a significant portion of the material was crafted by Witchhunter and Blackfire, with Angelripper taking charge mostly of the lyrical aspect. "Agent Orange" boasts a wealth of aggressive and direct thrash metal riffing that permeate the entire 37-minute duration (or 40 minutes if you have the version featuring the Tank cover). The album features a diverse range of riffs, varying from straightforward and simple to more technically intricate, all remarkably catchy. Drawing influence from speed metal, heavy metal, and their roots in the extreme metal movement, Sodom showcases a guitar work that is both impressive and dynamic.

Indeed, the guitar craftsmanship on this album is particularly noteworthy, reflecting a guitarist who has honed his skills through dedicated practice. Blackfire demonstrates a powerful and precise right hand, delivering influential rhythmic guitars as well as solos that complement the songs seamlessly. Despite Blackfire's remarkable skills, his strained relationship with the drummer contributed to his departure from the band, leading him to join the more technically oriented at the time, Kreator.

Speaking of the drummer, Witchhunter, known for his punk demeanour, offers a jaw-breaking drumming performance on this album. His style is characterized by its violence, speed, precision, and occasional grooviness, making for an overall headbangable experience. Witchhunter's drumming on "Agent Orange" is nothing but perfection. Angelripper, handling both bass and vocals, demonstrates improvement in his skills. However, a minor concern lies in the perception that his vocal delivery still sounds somewhat immature, lacking the later brutal quality that would make him renowned for one of the best growling voices in metal.

In terms of production, the album stands out for its super-clear, heavy, dynamically rich, and distinctly metal sound. Harris Johns, credited with the production, is not a random figure in the metal scene. A glance at his extensive list of production credits reveals his role in shaping the predominantly European metal sound during the '80s.

"Agent Orange" stands as an epitome of metal perfection. Musically, it embraces the essence of metal, delivering an unrivalled blend of aggressiveness, speed, and violence, all while maintaining an impressive level of diversity. Lyrically, the album reveals a band with genuine social and political concerns, opting for substantive art over superficiality. Globally, only a handful of albums can stand shoulder to shoulder with the excellence demonstrated by "Agent Orange". Even the album cover, despite its war-themed imagery – a theme that might not resonate with everyone – carries an artistic merit that complements the musical brilliance within.

It's almost inconceivable to envision someone identifying as a metalhead and not holding this thrash metal masterpiece in high regard. The album's influence extends beyond musical appreciation; it serves as a cultural cornerstone within the metal genre. "Agent Orange" isn't just an album; it's a timeless classic masterpiece in the vast landscape of heavy metal.

Germany’s Sodom have forever left the metal underground in 1987 with the release of Persecution Mania, an album with which they departed from black/speed metal and turned to thrash. It was an album which had an intense impact on the band’s position and has served as a source of inspiration for legions of followers. ‘Nuff said that the band quickly followed with a full length live album (Mortal Way Of Live) in 1988. Yet the trio around Tom Angelripper seemingly haven’t quenched their hunger for metal and 1989 saw the release of their 3rd full length, Agent Orange. Boasting (yet another) awesome cover, depicting the band’s mascot, Knarrenheinz, on a fighter plane during a fire discharge, the album contained pure thrash metal, served the European style: raw, with great rhythm and little melody.

In comparison to its predecessor, Agent Orange was more straightforward thrash – gone were the cold speed/black metal specks which were still present on Persecution Mania. The sound was cleaner, but still not too polished (which happened on 1990’s Better Off Dead). Tom’s vocals seem to have improved from muttered phrases to typical thrash screaming and the songwriting became tighter. Average song duration slightly exceeds 4 minutes – not too long to put to sleep, but enough to develop some excellent riffage and tell a story. Right – tell a story. The booklet includes the following words from the band: This album is dedicated to all people - soldiers and civilians - who died by senseless aggressions of wars all over the world. And most of the songs contain lyrics dealing with warfare, only “Incest” and “Exhibition Bout” deal with other issues (sexual abuse and corrida cruelty, respectively – by the way, can anyone recall another a metal song dealing with the latter?!).

The strength of the album isn’t equally distributed over all its tracks – although I dare not to call any of the songs weak, it seems that the title track and “Ausgebombt” carry more impact than the remaining tunes. „Agent Orange” is a bombastic thrash anthem which starts off with an introduction on an acoustic guitar (“Fight Fire With Fire”, “Battery”, anyone?) and then develops with an excellent riff. This song has it all – the atmosphere, the riffs, the bridge, the quick tempos, the mid-paced parts, all fits together nicely. No wonder that with slightly over 6 minutes on the clock it is the album’s longest track. „Ausgebombt” is all that „Agent Orange” isn’t – it’s short, straightforward, rough-sounding (almost punky), but just like the title opus it is an awesome song. It is a verse – pre-chorus – chorus song which won’t get out of your head until Alzheimer’s gets you. The band shot a video for this song and it still is performed live in the encore section. „Ausgebombt” belongs to the (un)holy trinity of classic short and fast Sodom songs with German titles (the other two are “Bombenhagel” from Persecution Mania and “Stalinorgel” from Better Off Dead, which are often also performed at the end of Sodom’s concerts as a one song medley - Stalinhagel).

Sodom have gone various ways with their albums after the release of Agent Orange – they tried to get softer on Better Off Dead, flirted with death metal on Tapping the Vein, went punky on Get What You Deserve, jumped on the nu-metal wagon with the release of Masquerade In Blood, only to return later to what best suits them – playing good old thrash metal, the hard way: with no fucking around, no wimping out (no ballads!), no stupid pretensions to becoming MTV stars. And god bless Tom & his men for that!

In the beginning, I didn't really want to write this review. It's useless. Sodom is a so-praised band and this is (as far as I know) one of the most sold thrash metal albums in the world. However, this is something that I really want to say. Something that I really need to bring to light.

My frustration with Sodom started since I listened to their Persecution Mania album since I never could connect with it (even when I listened to it when I was still discovering more thrash metal bands besides the Big American 4), so I decided to listen to Agent Orange in hopes of finding something better, and what do you think? I did NOT happen.

Ok. I'll be fair. Everything concerning the instruments is ok. They are well performed, well recorded and maybe the member that stands out more is Chris Witchhunter; I think he has a great energy playing. Also, Tom Angelripper's voice is good (I liked more his work in the previous album, though). However, as I said in another review, a good instrumental performance is NOT everything that you need to make a good album. The instrumental part is ok, but let me continue with the rest of the album.

Agent Orange is an overrated thrash metal album. Why? Simple. The execution is ok, but the riffs are lame. Flat. They are the most basic riffs that I have listened to in my life. For me, Sodom is not a band that shines because of their riffs, and let me explain it. Have you ever seen those jokes and memes to Kerry King about how his riffs are repetitive and he can't play something more complex? Well, (although that's partially true,) that's the problem that I have with Sodom (even since the Persecution Mania album, you can check my review in this page). The riffs are so basic that no important ornaments can't be heard anywhere. Instead, the band performs songs based on just tremolo, tremolo and MORE TREMOLO over and over again, or mere open string-based riffs. This is present in most of the music and it's just boring.

Secondly, The drum rhythms feel repetitive as well. Chris Witchhunter is (or was) a competent drummer, but despite adding some fills to the music, its performance feels like the same in most of the album. Maybe this is due to the music that he worked with, but I think it's something that has to be mentioned.

Now, I already talked about the lack of musical resources to make good songs, but why the songs are not good? Because they feel very long owing to the lack of interesting ideas, and various sections are repeated and lengthen, which makes the album feel tedious. The best examples of this are the riff after the acoustic section of Tired and Red and the rhythm change in Magic Dragon, but there are more of these moments throughout the album. You choose the one that you hate the most.

There are several occasions where a riff starts with a kind of fast tempo, but gradually, that speed is lost and the riffs are played slowlier. It happens several times in the album and makes the song lose the (little) aggressiveness that they have. Maybe you're thinking that this is a stupid excuse to demerit the album "unfairly", but believe me, each time that this happened, I felt it like a "coitus interruptus". It feels like if you had a cold water bucket thrown. It ruined my experience while listening to the album.

Yes. Agent Orange is well performed, but the music is just insufferable because of its monotony. It's the lowest point of thrash metal. Once again. a good sound is not enough to make a good album. And you know what? Take my opinion or send me to fuck up, but don't be like those "true" metalheads that tell things like "you don't know anything about metal, you piece of dipshit". If you like Agent Orange, it's ok. Enjoy it. Masturbate yourself while listening to it if you want, but don't make a drama for having a different opinion. Sometimes that kind or metalheads are worse when someone disagrees with them than people who listen to more "mainstream" stuff like nu-metal or grunge.

From my part, I'd tell that if you want to listen to some aggressive old school thrash metal, I recommend you thousand of times more to listen to Peace Sells,... but Who's Buying?, Eternal Nightmare, Chemical Invasion, any Kreator classic album or whatever, but avoid Agent Orange at all.

Please.

When looking at a list of the greatest metal albums of all time, it's almost certain that it will be dominated by thrash. Much of thrash is accessible to entry-level metalheads, and for many doesn't require the acquired taste of often-cheesy traditional heavy metal. Therefor, the importance of certain bands and albums are often overstated by the masses who don't know any better and assume that accessibility equals quality.

An album like Sodom's Agent Orange is a good example of an album that's far enough outside the reaches of the metal "mainstream" to be taken seriously as a legitimately great album. It's not heaped with exaggerated praise like Master of Puppets, but it certainly gets its fair share of (deserved) critical acclaim.

Agent Orange is very aggressive album. Lyrically, it deals authentically with the horrors of war. Musically, it provides an onslaught of sinister riffs and intense rhythms that act as the perfect vehicle for the subject matter. The songs are well-written, each one featuring clearly differentiating structural segments that make for a more interesting listen than it would if each track was just nonstop thrash. The most notable examples include the clean guitar break in "Tired and Red" and the crawling, near-doom first half of "Magic Dragon." "Ausgebombt" is like a more extreme Motörhead song with lyrics in German, and offers a break from the seriousness of the other tracks.

This is a very good sounding album too, especially considering that it came out in 1989. That of Agent Orange is what the perfect production for a thrash album sounds like, in my opinion: cleanly-executed guitar parts played through high-gain amps; drum levels that are theoretically flawed but assist the perception of the thrash genre as a primitive one; and incoherent, monotonic, barked vocals that are not over-the-top in harshness but are able to seem like a cool effect rather than the centerpiece of the band's sound.

Unfortunately, Agent Orange has some problems. "Remember the Fallen" features melodic vocals, which might not seem so bad if it weren't so poorly executed and boring. Additionally, there's a tremolo-picked guitar riff that seems to repeat in a nearly unchanged fashion between "Tired and Red," "Exhibition Bout," and "Baptism of Fire."

I must admit, I love Agent Orange. It's one of my favorite thrash albums of all time, no question about it. It's able to stand up among the very best in metal's most well-known genre, which is saying something. Seven out of eight songs on the album are phenomenal, and the remaining one is mostly just uninspiring. It's a great-sounding album, which is also a plus. I will always recommend Agent Orange to people wishing to begin their journey away from thrash and into the realm of extreme metal.

Best songs: All of them except "Remember the Fallen."

Agent Orange is Sodom's third album, and possibly their most appreciated release. Persecution Mania was their first record to focus on militaristic topics as opposed to the macabre Bathory style Occultism of the debut and demos release prior. Agent Orange takes the belligerence to the absolute extreme. The album cover alone is enough to assert this. The realistic, yet cartoonish photo depicts the band's mascot standing in a plane with two guys. The first man can be seen operating gun that appears to be spraying agent orange onto the landscape below. The other dude wields an imposing physique and it looks like he's holding a controller of some kind. Without getting too far into the art (all of Sodom's album art is fucking great), let's go straight into the music.

First of all, I know I said that this is an overrated album. It is if we look at the rest of Sodom's discography. M16 fucking slays compared to this one, and Persecution Mania is probably better. The main thing that knocks this album down a bit is the filler. None of the songs quite qualify as filler, but some of the riffs don't do much for me. The black metal style riffing in "Tired and Red" for example is kind of boring and reminds me too much of other band's. The closer, "Don't Walk Away" is a Tank cover and it is middle of the road. I have no idea why they included something this out of place.

Now onto the standout bits. Most of the songs kick ass, but certain sections really blow me away. Such sections include the chorus of "Tired and Red", which kind of reminds me of Sodom's later material. Then we have the Tom Angelripper's confident Dave Mustaine imitation on the plodding "Remember the Fallen". Unlike the more barren, warlike songs on Agent Orange, this one sounds almost mainstream, reminding me of Metallica or Megadeth. This surprisingly does not cause a problem on this album. "Incest" is another fun one with it's memorable sound and sexy lyrics.

Now for the musical skills showcased here...I find it difficult to formulate thoughts. They play well together, in synch and everything, and the band's ability to rip through enjoyable riffs at extreme speeds is insane. There are some great solos as well, such as the one at the end of the somewhat socially conscious "Exhibition Bout". The one thing this album seems to lack is the use of more textured parts. There's a time and a place for soft music, and Sodom seem to understand where that shit belongs, but there is an acoustic section at the end of "Tired and Red" that I can't fucking stand. I'd rather have the militaristic machine gun drums and thick distorted guitars that this album uses very well assault me the whole time.

If one is coming from the realm of more accessible thrash like Metallica, then it would only make sense to get the impression the guys in Sodom take their lyrics seriously. This is not the case however. If you actually read the lyrics to the final track, you will understand that Sodom use brutally descriptive lyrics on Agent Orange to discourage rather than promote war. "No trade with death, no trade with arms".

The greatest honour history can bestow is the title of peacemaker. Richard Nixon, the innocent comrade that, of course, had nothing to do with the Watergate affair, said this sentence while being at risk to suffocate in view of his own emotiveness. But he didn't make peace in Vietnam. He even didn't bring the war to a glorious end.

Thomas Such, better known as Tom Angelripper, did never speak very pathetic sentences. The dudes from his home region are usually not interested in making big words. Instead, he just released "Agent Orange" in cooperation with Chris Witchhunter and Frank Blackfire. Unlike Nixon, Tom brought this project to a glorious end. No doubt, today it is rather embarrassing for extreme metal bands to look for commercial success. But Sodom was the first thrash band that hit the German charts and this was a kind of unexpected triumph and a totally new experience at the same time. It felt extremely good, because the three-piece had not modified its style. The dudes played thrash metal, less amateurish than they did on the very early outputs, but still fast and furious. To put the Vietnam War in the centre of the martial lyrics was both original and generic. It quickly became clear that Sodom were in the right place at the right time. We, the positively surprised fans, studied the charts and were convinced that extreme metal had become an unstoppable force. World domination was near.

Leaving aside our feverish dreams, "Agent Orange" marked a milestone for Sodom, not only because of its commercial success. The occult, sometimes biblically inspired or surreal scenarios of their former lyrics did not show up anymore. The songs of the third full-length had a more realistic content and this reorientation gave the album an oppressive aura. Nevertheless, the music was still highly impressive and it has lost nothing of its fascination to this day. From the beginning to the end, each and every track wins over with its accessible, more or less conventional design. I don't speak about primitive patterns, far from it. It is rather the case that the band demonstrates its newly attained song-writing skills. "Agent Orange" marks the final point of the breathtaking evolution of Sodom. Clearly structured songs have replaced slightly crude noise attacks. Both approaches have their charm, but there can be no doubt that "Agent Orange" is the masterpiece of the early Sodom.

I don't want to bore anybody with the list of my personal favourites. It is more or less identical with the song list. Only the fairly introvert "Remember the Fallen" has to struggle in order to keep up with the pace of the other songs. This can be taken literally - it is the slowest piece of the album. In addition, its riffing is solid, but relatively predictable. However, the cruelty of wars is reflected by other songs. The straight title track kicks off the album with sharp and catchy riffs while benefitting from a very charismatic vocal performance of Angelripper. He spits out the lyrics with a maximum of bitterness and this way of proceeding hits the bull's eye in view of the criminal herbicidal operations that he refers. "Magic Dragon" with its ominous beginning mirrors the fear of the soldiers before the song accelerates speed and turns into another neckbreaking outburst of impulsiveness.

To avoid misunderstandings, "Agent Orange" is not a typical concept work. The lyrics of "Exhibition Bout" or "Incest" do not deal with the traumatic experience of the US Army in the jungle. Yet these tunes keep the level of aggression and they do it with great ease while the vocals express contempt and disgust. I cannot find a difference between the Vietnam and the non-Vietnam songs in terms of velocity, pressure or restlessness. Inter alia the flawless production guarantees a constantly powerful appearance. Commander Angelripper doesn't go into the war without a comforting amount of munitions.

Undeniably, "Agent Orange" has become an icon of thrash metal in its purest form. It is immune against external influences while concentrating on the essential features of the genre. Today one might call the here presented approach old fashioned, but this was state of the art thrash at the time of the album's publication. Moreover, its energizing effect is still present. Not to mention its coherence, its homogeneity and last but not least its commercial success. All these elements gave the scene important impulses and Sodom gained new fans. I don't know whether Nixon bought a copy. Honestly speaking, I fear that this old Quaker had a miserable music taste. However, rest in peace, Richie. Other politicians also failed to make peace. Syria is just one example among many.

When you perfect a formula so well, it often leaves little to discuss about it. That's what Sodom has done here. Nothing screams that this is a masterpiece that deserves to be worshiped on an altar, yet there's no major negative aspects about it. The problem when it comes to reviewing average to decent records is that it doesn't leave you with a lot of material to elaborate on. That's why I can go on about St. Anger until I'm blue in the face despite how awful it is. I wanted to preface with this, so if I seem to nitpick a lot, then you know why.

Anyway, the album opens with "Agent Orange". A song that's really a culmination of a bunch of different thrash metal styles. The opening riff is akin to Practice What You Preach era Testament with it evoking a great desire to headbang. It swiftly moves on to something of the likes of Ride the Lightning era Metallica. However, those just serve as the appetizers to the rapidly fast pace that takes over the rest of the song. Seriously, tapping your foot to this tempo makes you look like you've been drinking too many Monster energy drinks. Right then, it transitions to a Slayer-esque section just as it gradually picks up speed again. The song keeps that Slayer influence at hand for the solo where it flat out abuses that whammy bar. Lyrically, the song details the use and effects of the cancerous chemical we all know and love; Agent Orange. Actually, Angelripper does a great job describing the horrors that this chemical carries and pens a memorable chorus that always ends with the line, "A fire that doesn't burn". You know, just to really drive in the point. All of that comes together to make the best song off this album.

Going back to the subject of lyrics, this album is quite interesting in that regard. The main theme surrounding this album is the Vietnam War which begs the question: Why are so many metal bands interested in the Vietnam War. You got Napalm Death, Jungle Rot, Sodom, Anvil, Manowar, Bolt Thrower, Exodus, Blind Guardian, Terrorizer, Nuclear Assault, and Sabaton writing stuff about the Vietnam War. I can see why Black Sabbath would write about it, because the war was still raging around that time. I personally find the Vietnam War to be an overly complicated and overly political to even be invested in. Enough of that rambling, anyway, Tom Angelripper does a great job with the lyrical content on Agent Orange. He's clearly very passionate and strangely fascinated with the subject. He's able to inject so much passion throughout this album without resorting to being an anti-war hippie. To put it bluntly, it's something that I like given that I'm a bit of a self-identified historian.

Agent Orange is surprisingly rather varied than one is to expect. You have your insanely fast thrash metal tunes like "Tired and Red" and "Incest", but then you get into your slower tracks like "Remember the Fallen". This variety really breaks up the monotony of the album's full-throttle nature. That's before you get into the heavily hardcore punk influenced "Ausgebombt". This track is an almost jarring turn for Agent Orange which is easily identifiable as Teutonic thrash metal album. Speaking of which, this is probably the first straight thrash metal record from Sodom. Persecution Mania was definitely thrash, but it still had traces of their early black metal roots. Here, anything that was black metal was swept away in the recording process. They're certainly able to give up their elements of black metal for a heavy metal approach on the track "Don't Walk Away". Apparently, it's a Tank cover for whom I can't say I'm too familiar with. How does it fare with the original? Well, it seems that Sodom chose to directly cover the song as oppose to putting it in their own style. It's a little different from the original. For one, there isn't a scream at the beginning of the song which is probably due to it being way out of Tom's vocal range. There also isn't the diminished vocal effect on the chorus which is a welcome improvement. The cover is a little heavier with the bass being more prominent in the mix, but besides that, it's pretty similar. I guess the cover serves as an homage to Tank rather than twisting the song into their own. It's pretty much on par with the original when it comes to quality, so there isn't a clearly better version.

Overall, I recommend Agent Orange. I'm not nearly as attached to this album as so many other people are. I definitely wouldn't go as far as to claim that it's the best thrash metal album of all time. For what it's worth, it's a solid release with a diverse number of heavy hitting, violently fast songs on it. I also admire Angelripper's passion that went into writing the lyrics and overall themes of Agent Orange. In terms of the band's career, this certainly was a great record for them. It was their commercial breakthrough in Germany which is remarkable considering they didn't have to water-down their sound. I guess I can look at this album in a more positive light just for that.

How about some classic thrash? How about some strong classic thrash? Well then good, because this is a review for Agent Orange. Its strong, packed with raw power and energy and brimmed with thrashy hardiness. Its also by none other than Sodom, my personal favorite of ye olde German thrashers.

So what to talk about first? Let's talk guitars. Like every good thrash album you have an abundance of fast, muscled and thrashy riffs. Of course, in order to be a classic or something that stands out it needs to have a bit of variety so it can't be a train of non stop thrash. The album begins with Agent Orange which starts with a slower but still thrashy riff, moves to a more melodic section before it jumps into the Teutonic madness. Tired and Red has a brief acoustic interlude half way through. Every song has a long instrumental section and of course shredding guitar solos.

Then of course we have Angelripper's raspy yells as vocals. This is the main style of vocals used, but there are also gang shouts here and there, especially on their cover of Don't Walk Away if you have certain later releases of the album. There's even a track with melodic singing.

Sadly however, while the production allows everything to be heard its not the best. The bass can be heard and it follows with the guitar most of the time but it sounds less like the 4 string instrument we're all familiar with and more like a lot of low end popping noise. The drummer on the other hand sounds fine for the most part, he delivers his fast paced beats with no problem but his fills sound like plastic.

In a quick nutshell -ignoring the outliers- songs generally fire up with a quick guitar riff which will be accompanied by Angelripper's harsh narrations of war, incest and evil. It'll go along a variation of the fairly standard 'verse-chorus-verse-chorus-solo/bridge-chorus' structure using long instrumental breaks in between the second chorus and the solo which of course emphasizes the instrumental elements of the music. The end result is a raw and energetic thrash album with a strong war vibe.

Agent Orange is a strong thrasher impeded only by a few production issues and the fact that the original length of 8 songs feels a bit too short.

I only recently got into Sodom (the band, nothing rude). I listened to them a few years ago and didn't really care for them, possibly while i was going through a phase of not bothering with thrash at all. Somewhere down the line, i got a renewed urge to explore the thrash i didn't already own which led me to Sodom and Destruction among others. I knew this album was widely regarded as one of Sodom's best so i started here. All i can say is i've been missing out!

Sodom have evolved over the years. Firstly a raw, Venom inspired black metal sound led to thrash, then a punkier phase and finally back to thrash. Sort of like Slayer meets Kreator but not as frantic. Agent Orange is the peak of the first thrash period both critically and commercially. This album apparently sold over 100,000 copies in their native Germany and charted fairly highly, It's a shame then that thrash pretty much died a couple of years after this otherwise they may have maintained their popularity.

This album is a little bit samey at times, a common trait of thrash metal or any album that sticks rigidly to a style. This isn't a major complaint though as the songwriting is strong. The opening 3 songs are probably the best, but the Motorhead inspired 'Ausgebombt' is another highlight. The speed of the album is more mid-paced to fairly fast, it has just enough variety to keep things interesting and is fairly short so you won't stop paying attention while listening. The production is nice and clear without being overproduced, all of the instruments are well balanced and the talent of Frank Blackfire really shone through on this album, his last with the band unfortunately (he joined Kreator after this).

This is definitely the album to get if you're new to Sodom, it's a really solid thrash album with fairly harsh vocals but not like the early releases, and is also a better album than most of their more recent thrash albums (which are also pretty good).

Recommended tracks: Agent Orange, Tired and Red, Ausgebombt

The third album from German thrashers Sodom, “Agent Orange,” is one of the bands’, and the thrash genre as a whole, more hallowed works and is certainly worthy of such praise with a slew of stand-out tracks and plenty of charging songs that certainly appeal to their fans.

Following in the footsteps of their previous effort, there’s not much here that’s really all that different in terms of the sound of the album. Fueled by ferocious, tightly-executed riffing and intricate bass-work, the songs here are fast and up-tempo with a darker sound than would be the norm for the bay area type of thrash bands, with a similar life to them that comes from the dexterous drumming on display. The riffing also has a much more heavier atmosphere to them than the typical thrash band, aided by the stylistic incorporation last album of lengthy instrumental segments mid-way through the song to let the main riff breathe for a while, and that lets the album’s few tracks to generate a heavier, darker atmosphere than normal when the one stellar riff in the song is given plenty of time to ingratiate itself with the listener. Wisely chosen among the style to do this tactic is the fact that it’s fast and up-tempo traditional thrash riffs this is employed for, making it all the more enjoyable. Again, the drumming is another stand-out factor here with a dexterous display that features everything from simplistic punk fills to raging hyper-speed blasts and double-bass fills that give it an extra intensity, all the while delivering a pounding, thunderous production job that makes them even more forceful and devastating. By this time, the vocals have changed slightly as they’re now slightly coherent instead of the raspy, dirty growls that permeated their early works, so much like the cleaning-up and streamlining of their sonic attack the vocals do so as well. It’s taken a little longer, but even with a nasty snarl and a few growls this is the most audible the lyrics have been yet and makes the songs stand-out quite a bit with a new trick up its sleeve, regardless of how important the matter actually is.

Surprisingly, there’s no real trick to this album in terms of splitting it up into sides. The songs throughout are all stylistically the same, though if one were to make a quick overview of the album it would seem that the more intense, charging tracks are uploaded in the front half while the second half contains more of a varied overview of the band’s career. Now, it’s not varied so much in the sense of featuring wild experimentations, but more along the lines of minor stylistic differences that seem to stem from their numerous influences. One is a dirty streamlined bout of thrash that wouldn’t be out-of-place on their first full-length, another’s a little slower and forsakes the speed and intensity in favor of the more chaotic material that they used to play, one’s pretty punk-like in its simplicity and intense energy while the last one is a tight, aggressive thrasher the likes of which was found on their second album. While this may not seem like it’s much compared to the more straight-forward and streamlined efforts on the front-half, it does allow the album a slight amount of difference between the two parts, and is certainly part of what gives the album a real energy as it blasts through.

The songs on the album are some of the finest of their career, including many absolute stand-outs and feature several career highlights. It’s starts with a bang as the immortal title track starts it off with a crushing intro featuring stellar drumming and moody riffing that blasts into an intense thrashing break before mid-tempo break mid-section that turns into hyper-speed instrumental break, becoming one of their more immortal highlights. Almost as legendary is ‘Tired and Red,’ as it starts with a hyper-speed guitar-and-drum heavy intro with a frenetic mid-tempo groove that gets incredibly interesting midway through with a moody acoustic guitar interlude of melodic riffing that segues back into a full-on thrash assault, generating it’s second absolute classic. The outright pounding thrash of ‘Incest’ comes complete with crushing drums and intense riffing that, unfortunately, doesn’t do anything special after the catchy chorus and stellar soloing that run rampant throughout which leaves it lagging slightly behind the two landmark tracks that came before. Thankfully, we get another classic in the absolute majesty of ‘Remember the Fallen,’ switching things up slightly with a groovy mid-tempo chug that drops the thrashing bombast and dirty vocals for a powerful, overwhelming experience in a mid-tempo bombast that’s almost foreign to the sound, yet the fact it comes off as classy as it does makes it one of the bands’ better tracks.

The second half, while it may be considered experimental, is pretty much more of the same as what was found in the upper half. ‘Magic Dragon’ starts off with a slow, dirge-like intro with plenty of intense drumming and frantic riffing that falls flat on the intense sections due to a recurrence of a minor flaw found in the previous album with an inability to really write intense drum patterns that fit the material, and the predominant doom-like riffing and pace overall bring this one down somewhat. The slightly better ‘Exhibition Bout’ features more of that dirty aggression found on the first album with mid-tempo riffing, explosive drumming and utterly darker vocals mixed with a fine solo flair, creating a solid if unspectacular effort. It all ends with a bang as we get two more stand-out tracks, starting with the infectious and simplistic ‘Ausgebombt,’ which is a blast of pure punk feel with dexterous drumming, chaotic bass-work and thrashy riffing explodes in blast of pure energy and speed that’s one of their more timeless tunes. It all ends with ‘Baptism of Fire,’ a blast of blazing speed with furious riffing, pounding drumming, backing chorus shouts and shifts between utterly extreme hyper-speed thrashing and mid-tempo breathers, bringing in another fantastic track to book-end the album with two standouts on either end.

Overall, this album is a total masterpiece and really stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the preceding album as outright classics of the genre. They’re both, especially this one, are near flawless, featuring so many worthwhile elements that are part and parcel of the thrash genre and are definitely among the top echelons of the genre, while as for which one works better is a matter of mere taste. The previous one is slightly more experimental and takes a few different twists and turns whilst it experiments with the new sound, while here it’s content to just utilize that streamlined blasting to maximum effect as it devastates all those around it with air-strike efficiency. It’s more devastating and certainly more polished at what it does, leaving this one another mandatory requirement for all thrash fans or those looking for the complete German thrash experience.

Talk about thrash metal quality, intelligent, intense, aggressive, ever changing and original release here. A monumental one in all aspects. It shows some similarities to Kreator's "Coma of Souls", which is a definite one that is from another German descent, but Sodom rips it up here showing that they too can measure up to the genius syndrome. Riffs are fast, technical, intense and totally amazing. Too bad like other bands they just went downhill after their peak albums were delivered. I would think that bands would get even better and evolve rather than cop out and play things that they think listeners want to hear. I would say it's wrong to think that in music, but it happens so often.

Thrash metal bands like old Metallica, Exodus, Testament, Kreator, Sepultura and Sodom all reigned during an 80's minor 90's eras. A lot of them just lost it, but other bands like Destruction and even Kreator are belting out solid releases. Testament too, but Sodom's newer material isn't even close to being original like "Agent Orange" is. This band totally annihilates here, and to give a higher than 100% if it existed. You get rock solid production quality here and chunky guitar riffs that explode and also areas that are just groove based. So it's not entirely intense all the way through, but shows variety in songwriting abilities.

The solos by Frank Blackfire (ex-Kreator) are just technical and amazing all over the fretboard. Angeripper's voice doesn't sound like Schmier's on this one, it seemed more original than his, although not many thrash metal bands that I consider to be good on the vocals. Many exceptions, but as a whole, the intensity and quality reign in the music. However, I will detract and say that Angelripper just kicks ass and his voice on here sounds more like Dave Mustaine's via Megadeth. Though there are just similarities, but it's kind of coincidental. Some people favor Megadeth, but I've never been a huge fan of the band.

The originality on this album is so supreme and exasperating in quality, groove, intensity, variety, technicality and originality. Though I pointed out some similarities to other legend bands, Sodom just reigns supreme here and conquers, releasing their best album out of their entire discography. I'd conclude that it's better to purchase a newer CD because you get a bonus and it's not very expensive. We've explored the originality and amazing songwriting here, even though as a 3-piece, they still ripped your ears apart with their aggression and full obliteration of thrash metal imploded on this planet.

Those are my thoughts here, so in closing, I'd have to say that the scene in the higher 80's era seemed to be the best overall types of thrash metal invigorating albums that reign supreme with their intensity plus aggression galore. No song on this album is bad or uninteresting. All tracks deserve mention because they're all in intensity mixed with laying back grooves, but all in all, are aggressive as hell. This album is up there with Sepultura's "Beneath the Remains", Kreator's "Coma of Souls", Destruction's "Release From Agony", et al. If this is missing in your collection, evaluate and simply invest in it because it's much worth getting and deafening to the ears.

Here they are, one of the masters of The German Thrash Triangle: SODOM! "Agent Orange" is oft considered to be the band's finest achievement, a powerhouse in hyper-aggressive riffing, bloodthirsty vocals and monstrous solos. And for all intents and purposes, I agree.

Armed with big production values and big-budget artwork, this lineup attacks all-out practically with demonic perfection. The one and only Tom Angelripper rips it on vocals and bass. Fuck this guy sounds mean, his voice a hoarse, raspy growl that poseurs just aren't ready for. His bass rules too; it's fairly loud in the mix and has that classic, crunchy teutonic sound that makes us all shit our knickers. Frank Blackfire (who also played with fellow German thrash giants Kreator) is a masterful, underrated guitarist; his playing is just dead on, with the focus on perfectly aggressive speed-shredding so dead-on that one wonders how the guy's guitar never caught on fire. The late great Chris Witchhunter is also a speed monster on his drum kit; not terribly technical, but who cares when you can pound it out as fast and precise as this guy!

From beginning to end, "Agent Orange" is one of the coolest thrash attacks you'll ever get head-fucked by. We start off with the immense title track, with the band's classic spitfire playing in full effect. The chorus is simple but awesome ("The fire that doesn't burn!!!"), and the boys let loose with one of the band's strongest assets: The Sodom Solo. Prepare for some of the most kickass solos you'll ever get crunched by right here! It gets even better with the album's strongest track, "Tired And Red". We're treated to aggression similar to the title track, and another cool chorus. But this song's solo. Oh boy! Ladies and gentleman, I give you the best thrash metal solo EVER! We start off with a short acoustic part, which then slowly fades and then slams into the brutally mid-paced solo, armed with a simple but absolutely prime riff to accompany it. This album is worth snatching up just for this sucker alone! Things go up and down in quality with the rest of the songs. "Incest", is probably the most vicious song on here, but it gets stomped out quick like a small firecracker. At least it comes armed with another killer solo. "Remember The Fallen" is a ballad done right, but at the end of the day still a ballad. The song has a good sound to it and certainly doesn't deem skipping. "Magic Dragon" is another plus-sized thrash monster akin to the title track, though I think they could have done better with the solo at this point. The ferocious fight song "Exhibition Bout" is pretty catchy and that spitfire aggression comes into full effect again, with yet another wicked mid-paced solo tagged on. "Ausgebombt", a personal favorite, is probably the least thrashy song on here (it's basically a Motorhead-type speed metal song), but it's still quite a fun listen and is damn catchy. We end with the decent "Baptism of Fire", with more killer riffage, aggression, and mid-paced crushing all in one place. Oops, a near track-by-track review. Sorry folks, I guess.

Overall, this is one of the best thrash metal albums you could ever hope to get your mortal hands on. Just about every track is perfect in its own way, and the wild aggression and number of unforgettable solos will leave you speechless and ear-raped. Highly fucking recommended!

Coming off the strongest studio material of their career, namely the Expurse of Sodomy EP and Persecution Mania full-length, the doors of the world were being blown open for Tom and his troops. Agent Orange, the last album to feature what I consider the band's classic, ultimate combo of Angelripper, Witchhunter and Frank Blackfire, would not disappoint, though like its predecessor, it suffers from at least one needless diversion which threatens its consistency: that's yet another attempt at a German-titled punk thrash track that is ultimately forgettable against the onslaught of finely crafted riffing that marks the band's straight, metallic artillery. Nonetheless, a lot of eyes and ears were focused on Sodom at this point, and 1989 is where they affirmed their position among the thrashing hierarchy.

It helps to have the immortal lead-in track, and like Persecution Mania's "Nuclear Winter", the title track "Agent Orange" serves this purpose with ample, lethal pageantry. It opens with a stock, quality mid-paced thrash rhythm similar to what one might expect out of a US band like S.O.D., but then takes a swerve into a deeper, melodic mini-bridge before the blitz of the verse. Again, we're treated to the predictable chorus with the great, death metal-like riffs brazenly propelling it into distinction, and it's one of the best songs here. "Tired and Red" is close behind, though, a labyrinth of tight riffs with a great acoustic breakdown and leads during the extended bridge. "Incest" cranks up the velocity, and while it's not one of their better songs, there are at least 2 riffs worth shaking your fists at, and it should please fans of "Nuclear Winter"; but a real surprise is found in "Remember the Fallen", a slower paced, thrash/heavy metal song in which Tom adds a subtext of melody to his vocals which is actually quite good.

Once again, the theater of war is explored through "Magic Dragon", which is for the most part another slower paced song until the fast, thrash/death metal breaks arrive in the chorus which are safely filed under the "Nuclear Winter/Agent Orange" category; this characteristic is also the very definition of "Exhibition Bout", but there's a nice thrash break at 1:20 sure to get the heads all banging. "Ausgebombt" follows, and as I mentioned on my review of the EP with the same title, it's similar to "Bombenhagel" from the prior album, a punk/metal track with lots of gang shouts, loud and distorted Lemmy-like bass lines and not much else to it. I can say that I do enjoy the lead there, it cuts straight through the simplicity of the song's structure, and the production of the track is superb, but it's just not that interesting. Perhaps a fraction better than "Bombenhagel", but I'm all too satisfied when the warlike thrashing of "Baptism of Fire" arrives to rescue any further decline.

Agent Orange might well be the best produced album of the first few decades of Sodom, with that sturdy, clinical Harris Johns mix that distinguished many of his great European efforts. The bass and guitars are extremely well balanced; you can always make out the plodding power of the former against the ballistic, ripping weight of the latter. Tom contributes one of his best vocal performances, and despite its serious lyrical bent, the entire album seems perfect for pubbing, or perhaps grabbing a few tankards while you play war games with acquaintances. I'll always favor Persecution Mania for its grimier ethics and vicious appeal, but Agent Orange does belong to the band's most notable body of work alongside that and the great 1990 effort Better Off Dead.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

The year was 1989, and thrash metal was at it's peak, a lot of killer thrash albums came out that year, and this was one of them, in 1987, we saw Sodom go from pretty much a black/thrash band with 'Obsessed by Cruelty' to a technical thrash band with the follow up 'Persecution Mania' and this album takes Persecution Mania a step further, developing a more straight forward thrash metal sound, some could even say death/thrash if you want to be technical, but whatever genre you want to throw it in, whatever, what matters is, that this album smokes.

We start this monster thrash album with the title track which is none other than 'Agent Orange' which opens up with an excellent catchy mid-tempo riff, and boy, if you think that is impressive, wait until this song gets going and speeds up to about a 120 MPH, and the riffs are tight and precise, Angelripper comes in and sounds like someone who's smoked 4 packs of cigarettes a day, and then we get to the break, which goes back to the mid-paced style, which is fucking awesome and will be stuck in your head, follow that with a shredding solo, yes, this album starts quite awesome, and the next track 'Tired and Red' shows no signs of letting up, starting right off with those fast thrashy as hell riffs, quite a death/thrash sound on this album, awesome chorus, and man, the middle break just owns you, it will make you want to stage dive out your window or something to that effect, it starts with a beautiful classical guitar moment, and then, bang, that mid-paced catchy as ALL hell riff comes in and just dominates, trust me, you will know when this moment comes, throw another excellent solo underneath all that, we have another kick ass song here.

'Incest' is more of the same from this album, and while it is quite good, there's really nothing much to say about it, so I will skip down to 'Remember the Fallen' now this takes the album in a different direction, while the first 3 songs are brutal death/thrash, this song here, is pure melodic thrash, with excellent leads and hooks all the way throughout, another thing different here than on the rest of the album is Angelripper's vocals, he uses clean vocals on this track, and you know what? IT WORKS, this song is catchy and interesting, nice variety guys, 'Magic Dragon' comes next and smokes us with getting back to the aggressive side of the album opening up with the sound of airplanes flying overhead, and then a riff comes in that just beckons headbanging, this song is mostly mid-paced, but again, Sodom throw change ups at you, and speed it up throughout, it moves nicely back and forth between tempos, and another solo that is jaw dropping, another excellent song here folks, 'Exhibition Bout' comes next and keeps things thrashing, moving at a nice fast past, really catchy verses and chorus here, not much else to say about it, just another day, another great Sodom song.

I'm going to skip down to the closer of the album which is 'Baptism of Fire' which closes the album off in a total thrashing manner, opening with catchy drum fills before moving into a fast as fuck thrasher, with more excellent riffs about, and boy do I love the chorus here as well, especially those riot vocals, VERY interesting and catchy, you will be singing this for days in your head, heck, you might as well throw in another killer solo, because it is, Sodom really made a mark with this album, showing that they could thrash with the best of them on most of the tracks, but also showing that could be a bit different too with tracks such as Remember the Fallen and Ausgebombt, so really, there is something here for every fan, final words, excellent album that would propel Sodom to make more great albums after this, and they did, so listen to this, this will put you in the war!

These guys certainly know how to make a thrash metal album, There are a plethora of great thrash riffs and breakdowns, A bit of variety, Even some melody and a cover of a song by a NWOBHM band. A solid thrash album. I am not a big fan of most german thrash metal bands, but Destruction and Sodom certainly have something the other germans don't, and That is a bit of variety. Persecusion Mania comes close but this takes the cake for being the best Sodom album, There simply is more substance to this than their other albums. This is as good as a teutonic thrash metal album can get.

The title track is a great thrash Metal track, Featuring some generic but still extremely solid riffs, A great change of pace in the middle, again nothing special, same formula used by many other bands, A solo accompanied by some really good drumming, Tom Angelripper's Vocals are a strong point, His accent is cheesy german english but you can make out his lyrics very well and he does deliver impact without just sounding funny. The tracks "Tired and red" and "Incest" have the same thing going for them, very good songs. "Remember the fallen" has much more focus on the lyrics, The guitarwork is slower, Angelripper's vocals are very catchy and atmospheric as he sings "Remember the Fallen", The album certainly follows a theme from start to end, The lyrics deal with military and horrors of war etc. The "Ausgebombt" track is a different kind of beast, More hardcore, but you can certainly hear some motorhead influences here, The Vocals are excellent and the track features a great solo towards the end. "Don't walk away" is a great cover of a song by one of my favorite bands, Tank, The cover stays loyal to the original and also adds a few sodom influences, Angelripper's germanish english vocals don't ruin the song, they make it even better. Drumming is extremely consistent right throught the album. The guitar play is dark but not as Dull as some of the other bands.

Agent orange is a solid Thrash metal album, It's far from perfect but it does not have many flaws, If you want to get into German thrash, I recommend this album along with Destruction's "Cracked brain", These are certainly two albums which helped me get into Teutonic thrash. Agent orange is a worthy piece in my collection.

(I thought I could do better and so I re-wrote it)

This is Sodom’s zenith, their magnum opus, and probably their most definitive album. And one man made that possible. Frank Blackfire. I am of the opinion that without Blackfire, Sodom would still be making primitive and noisy black/thrash and would have never ascended to the level of greatness. Just look at the sudden change that happened when Blackfire joined. Persecution Mania was the band’s first full length release with Blackfire on guitar and according to some sources, he was the man that persuaded Tom Angelripper to focus on political lyrics and better songwriting. Persecution Mania was a huge jump forward from Obsessed By Cruelty, but did Agent Orange make any more progress? The answer is… no. The only real difference between the two is that the songs are longer, they have a bit more variation and the track listing is also better.

As I said before, this album is ALMOST a carbon copy of Persecution Mania. Hell, even the production is the same. Sodom didn’t take a huge leap forward, but instead they solidified all the elements of Persecution Mania. If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.

One thing to note here is the American thrash influence. A great way to describe this album would be Persecution Mania + Master of Puppets + Some New York thrash. The core component is German thrash, but there are a lot of “foreign” influences here. Most of the songs go into a slightly long and slower section after the second chorus, which is a nod to Metallica’s Master of Puppets. However, unlike Metallica, Sodom manage to keep things interesting in these slower parts. How? The NY thrash metal “thrash break.” And these thrash breaks have some variety too, with my personal favorite being the one in Tired and Red thanks to the NWOBHM flair.

The track listing is excellent. After listening to the first three tracks, one might get a little tired. Just when he/she is about to eject the CD… BOOM! Remember The Fallen starts to play and grabs your attention. Magic Dragon appears to follow the same formula as Remember The Fallen but then suddenly goes into a faster section. In the first three songs, the transition was from fast to slow, but in Magic Dragon it’s the opposite. Five songs, all five are killers, but unfortunately the first filler comes in the form of Exhibition Bout. Nothing special here, so I suggest you just press the skip button. If you do, you will be rewarded with one of Sodom’s most well known songs, Ausgebombt. An awesome track; has a cool Motorhead vibe to it. I suggest you eject the CD after Ausgebombt because even though Baptism of Fire is a decent track, it isn’t anything solid.

Now for the individual performances. The only thing here that stands out is Frank Blackfire, his riffs are catchy and brutal but the most important part about Blackfire was his influence over the direction Sodom would take. He single handedly turned Sodom into legends, in my opinion, and played a part in Angelripper’s sudden change in lyrical themes. Witchhunter’s drumming is awkward at times, and it’s often very poorly timed. It’s still an improvement over Obsessed By Cruelty and Persecution Mania though. Angelripper’s bass is decent, but it’s his vocal performance that stands out. He has a serious, cynical and evil aura around him and it really adds to the overall rating of the album. Even is Ausgebombt, he manages to sound evil, a type of “evil” that only Angelripper knows how to deploy.

Overall, it’s a fucking sweet album. One of the best thrash releases ever. The only downsides here are the drumming and the two boring tracks. Other than that, the good far outweighs the bad. This is one of the few thrash metal albums that truly deserves the “essential” title. Recommended to fans of thrash metal and also people who want to explore the realm of thrash.

Agent Orange is the classic example of how much a band could improve the sound and achieve the goal of recording something that is perfectly between the malevolence of the first efforts and the skills taken during lots of years of music. As you know, at the beginning of the 80s a band like Sodom was important for the growing black/death metal scene and few believed in a such improvement in technique and songwriting. It’s the Sepultura case too if we want.

Anyway, from Persecution Mania, after several line up changes, Sodom found a new dimension that pointed mostly on the classic thrash metal with a hint of the past influences and with this album we have the continuation of that job in a magic period for this kind of music.

Starting from the production (very similar to Persecution Mania), we can hear the cleaner sound that, anyway, is always damn compact and powerful. What always captured my attention was the guitar/bass sound: it’s great and incredibly pounding. The start is something that belongs to the history of thrash metal with classics that bring the name of “Agent Orange” and “Tired And Red”. These are simply great and for sure, two of the best Sodom’s compositions ever.

The rhythms are suffocating and terrific. The start of the fast part of the title track is something to remember forever, as the orgiastic palm muting riff in the middle too. “Tired And Red” features a good arpeggio in the middle to break the intensity. The mid paced riffs are perfect, compact and the following “Incest” is damn fast with lots of stop and go. Tom’s vocals are always raspy, scratchy and evil as Sodom’s tradition command.

The lyrics, as most of you know, are always about the stupidity of war and the various damages it concerns. A good example of this is the classic, long, mid paced “Remember The Fallen”. The atmosphere here is dramatic but fortunately the speed increases with the following “Magic Dragon” that surprisingly features six minutes of music. The good, but not excellent “Exhibition Bout” is just a prelude to the great, punkish “ Ausgebombt”. This one is simply great! Wow, it’s made for pure mosh!

As in thrash metal tradition, the final song of the album must be violence and brutal and for this “Baptism By Fire” doesn’t let me down, thanks to galloping guitars parts and very good chorus during the refrain. This is where you can find Sodom at the top of their career. This is an album to remember and listen at least once in your life.

'Agent Orange' doesn't offers any critical progress since 1987, but who the fuck cares?? These who expected to 'Persecution Mania' sequel, knew what they talk about. This is another heavy and aggressive album which is somehow complex (yet not ultra complex such as Kreator or Sabbat for instance) and quite consistent. This is a filler-less album, you won't push the stop button even once until it overs.

Something quite outstanding here is the dominant variation within the dynamics of the song structures. There are enough tempo changes and alternate time signatures here and there which gives this album a different flowing than their first album for instance. It isn't an album which is constantly devastating your ears ('Reign In Blood' kinda), the flowing here isn't bland and you can separate each part of the songs differently. However, even though that each song varies quite well, this album still has a sameish feeling because the songs themselves doesn't sounds much distinctive from each other.

The opener/title track open with floaty power chords striking and then
switching time signature and becomes mid paced. Not much later it rises up the tempo to fucking 210BPM and slays! The vocals are filthy and untamed, spits each vocal line with rage and following flawleslly the devastating riffage. The chorus is evil as hell and the riff sounds almost like pure black metal! Very intense opener, and the best of this album of course.

'Tired and Red' has a very chaotic intro and also nice clean interlude somewhere in the middle. The riffing is kind of generic but it still well executed and makes you headbang till blood. 'Remember The Fallen' is quite effective one, sounds like half rockish ballad and half like Sodom's ordinary thrashing, quite catchy riffing and chorus. Oh, there is also pretty nice leading guitar here and again some time signature changes. This is maybe the catchiest on this album. There is also a bonus cover track 'Don't Walk Away' which is pure speed metal and has quite good catchiness and a bit less aggressive vox. Other then that, all the tracks here are essential and nothing's wrong with them.

Overall, this is not a masterpiece nor a piece of crap as some people tend to say. This is another awesome album from 'Sodom' but it isn't their best one. 'Agent Orange' is a quality piece of thrash and very decent follower to 'Persecution Mania '. Worthy album.

There wasn’t much progress except for the production and less raw vocals but god damn some of these songs were once again superb. Opening track ‘Agent Orange’ has become a real Sodom anthem. It is heavy, it is dynamic, it is fast and it is catchy. This my friends is a truly great thrash metal song.

Another reward must go to ‘Magic Dragon’ which appears to be a decent mid tempo pounder until it speeds up and reveals itself as a brilliant composition. ‘Remember The Fallen’ has never been my favourite (nor has any slow Sodom song) but it does have a positive effect on the album. A slow tune like this makes the other songs seem even faster and it is one of their best slow songs ever.

And you can’t go wrong with thrashers like ‘Incest’ and ‘Exhibition Bout’. Of course there is a Bombenhagel part 2, called ‘Ausgebombt’ (*). Just as entertaining really (and so would be ‘Stalinorgel’ as well a year later)

There’s nothing wrong with Agent Orange except for one thing: it’s not Persecution Mania.


(* anyone recall the media fairytale that Augbebombt was originally titles 'Türken Raus' ?)

This is not just one of my favourite Thrash Metal albums but one of the finest ever produced by this Genre. At the pinnacle of it's life, Sodom unleashed this masterpiece that would raise the bar for German and other Thrash Metal alike. I won't call this album revolutionary because it is, after all, based on a lot of Sodom's previous work as well as other influences of Sodom.

The albums starts off with perhaps two of the strongest tracks - Agent Orange and Remember the Fallen. Agent Orange starts off with a Thrashy guitar intro followed by some fast riffing and my God, what a solo. Remember the Fallen, on the other hand, makes use of clean vocals with a slightly paced rhythm but this track's killer nonetheless. The following tracks could have easily been over-shadowed by the openers but guess what? They're all about just as good.

Tracks such as Incest, Magic Dragon and Tired and Red are fast, unique and very catchy. The solos throughout this album are also very catchy, especially the first solo on Magic Dragon - they don't get any faster than that.

The drumming is 'controlled' but the rhythm is complex. The German-accent Blackish vocals just make this absolotely teriffic. A lot of metalheads I know love this album and there's no way that this is either mediocre or boring and if you think that 'Sodom has fallen victim ...", you need to quit listening to Thrash because this is Thrash in it's finest hour!

Sodom was a pretty SOLID thrash band back in the 80s. As other reviewers have pointed out, although they weren't as technical or as complex as other German bands like Destruction and Kreator, they had a knack for just going in for the jugulor and playing it straight, fast and gritty.

In the case of this album however, Agent Orange, I feel that it was a matter of slightly too little, slightly too late, because coming on the heels of such albums as So Far...So Good...So What? (I'll explain why in this case), Sacred Reich's Ignorance and and at the same time as Kreator's spectacular Extreme Aggression, the riffs simply fall short.

Here's why. Take the title track, Agent Orange. In and of itself it's a great track, but in context of the thrash music doing the rounds at the time you have a sense of 'wait, haven't I heard all this before?'. The track starts with a little fast bit that sounds recognizable (can't place it), and then goes into a slightly modified version of the main riff to Megadeth's In My Darkest Hour. After that it goes fast, but the riff is EXACTLY the same as Sacred Reich's Death Squad (which came in 1987, so things aren't looking good).

Throughout the entire album I had a sense of deju vu, just thinking...where have I heard that riff before, and that riff!? So I feel that although Agent Orange is a good album it shoots itself in the foot via an extreme lack of originality.

My favourite German thrash band is without a shadow of a doubt Kreator. If you listen to Extreme Aggression you'll find the kinds of riffs that no one before and no one after played or aped, unlike with Agent Orange, which the whole way through feels like an exercise in thrash cliches.

But it's not all bad besides these aspects. I'm not into the title track so much but I feel it improves after. 'Tired And Red' sounds relatively original and is thrashtastic. 'Incest' is somewhat unassuming but enjoyable. 'Remember The Fallen' benefits a little from an alternative vocal style, though it is a little boring. 'Ausgebombt' is cool and feels a little punky.

Overall it is worth seeking out, and worth listening to...but don't expect something you haven't heard if you're a discerning thrash listening. I'd recommend Kreator over this band any day though. Now those guys are fucking grand.

In terms of musical style Agent Orange is a more mature form of the previous album Persecution Mania. This is definitely the album that helped Sodom get recognised by a much wider audience worldwide. It showed its effects boosting the sales of the bands next effort ‘Better Off Dead’.

If you want to beter understand how great this album is, you should considet tihe time it was released. Slayer had put out the legendary South of Heaven just less than a year ago, Sepultura had made a great impact on metal with Beneath The Remains, Kreator had released their most successfull album Extreme Aggression and Running Wild was sailing with strong winds in the charts with Death or Glory… Despite the strong competition, Agent Orange is remembered by many as the best album released in 1989.

The album gives you what Sodom does best, which is playing hyper-speed brutal thrash metal, and also some hints about the future directions of the band.

Tracks like Agent Orange, Incest and Magic Dragon are classical Sodom style brutal thrash songs; all played very well. Remember The Fallen is the start of the ‘slow but powerful song’ tradition we see in all Sodom albums. Tom Angelripper explains the bansd’ need to write songs like these by commenting that ‘the slower the song is, the more powerful it gets’. Another hint we get from the album about the band’s future comes from the song Ausgebomt. Starting with this album Sodom included one punk-hardcore type track in almost every release.

Through the years I have met many people who did not like or even hated Sodom. However, not even a single one of them denied the perfection of Agent Orange. Even most of the people who hates Sodom has this album in their collections. This is the album that made Metal Hammer magazine begin valling the band ‘Gods of Thrash'. The reason I did not give 100 points is because I see Baptism of Fire as a weak link.

This is a GREAT piece of thrash! The themes are strangely pacifist for such an aggressive style, but these – the lyrics and the artwork – are both done really effectively to complement the music. Clips of helicopter and aeroplane sound effects adds to this.

My favourite track is over and done with at the start – the title track. All of the first 6 tracks are pretty much equally great though. If you’re after a treasure chest of variety, perhaps look elsewhere, because admittedly a lot of these tracks are very similar at least in essence. There are several respites to the general style, like the more sing along Don’t Walk Away (a cover anyway, so not the best example) or the basically punk/hardcore Ausgebombt, which is a nice enough song for what it is, but pretty out of place in my opinion. Typically though, this is the song that got into the German charts, and not one of the more ripping tracks more representative of the album!

By lack of variety, I mean that virtually all tracks feature the token speedy drum blasting, even more speedy guitars, and usually a chugging thrash break. But who cares, these are what make the album so damn good! The sheer energy and aggression in the majority of the tracks is stunning, all powered along by the relentless drum work of Witchhunter and frantic guitaring of Blackfire. The vocals are harsh an

The sheer catchiness of this opus adds to this energy to boost its impact even more. Tracks like Remember The Fallen, but pretty much every track, are catchy while losing none of the downright thrash mania running throughout. Often you know the thrash breaks are coming, but headbanging is just irresistible, as they really know how to fuse the non-stop furiosity of the verses with completely perfect chugging interludes! Great stuff.

This is actually the only Sodom album I have at the moment, and I understand it’s one of their best. I can fully understand why as well, and one of the best thrash albums around I think.

THRASH TILL DEATH!

Sodom has always been the most straightforward of the Holy Trinity of German Thrash; while Destruction shredded their foes with lethal speed and wailing melody, and Kreator, by their third album, worked themself up to a method of intricate, technical disembowelment, Sodom thundered ahead with straightforward, neckbreaking brutality and heavy-handed force. Agent Orange is one of their most technically-minded releases, but is still fairly simplistic compared to albums like Coma of Souls and Release From Agony.

One could say that Agent Orange isn't so much nine individual songs as a solid chunk of thrash metal divided up into nine sections; this is both a strength and a weakness of the album, as a couple songs–"Incest" and "Exhibition Bout"–are kind of unremarkable. Not bad, by any means, but merely sort of forgettable. You headbang, you move on. And apart from two, maybe three, tunes, there aren't any songs that are just out-and-out kickass and unique all the way through. Everything has at least one of those "generic German thrash riffs."

But this is not as much of a condemnation as it sounds, because tradeoff for this is the prevalence of moments of sheer headbanger glory. On this album are to be found some of the absolute best opportunities in history for a discerning thrasher to fuck up his or her neck beyond all repair. For instance, "Tired And Red" is a basic piece of superspeed metal with two moments of major distinction. The first is at the 1:56 mark when the song cuts off abruptly and goes into a melodic interlude vaguely reminiscent of "Children of the Sea." It's hard to tell whether this is a good thing or not, as it's a beautiful section, but totally rapes the flow of the song in a disjointed, disturbingly Opeth-y way. But all is forgiven at 2:40 when Sodom blasts into a classic mid-tempo thrash riff straight out of "Welcome Home (Sanitarium." Simplistic, but utterly brutalizing at the same time, and thus perfect for headbanging.

The title track and "Magic Dragon" are both around six minutes, and both go through a varied selection of tempo changes. "Agent Orange," in addition to a badfuckingass chorus ("THE FIRE THAT DOESN'T BURN!") has one particular moment that really demonstrates the genius of this band–at about 3:30, they go into a driving thrash metal riff break that continues for about sixteen bars. Then at 3:55, they're still playing the same riff, but the drums switch beats to a frenzy of double-kick with the snare drum on the 1 and 3 beats, instead of 2 and 4. This minor percussive modification completely changes the sound and mood, and shows how great this band really is at working with limited resources. And it's not a question of whether that section there is headbang-worthy, but whether YOU are worthy of headbanging to IT. As for that other tune I mentioned back at the start of this paragraph, the first two minutes of "Magic Dragon" are a great example of how simple guitar work can do great things for atmosphere. Slow buildup..."the calm before the storm" indeed. And then of course the riffage rules, and the tempo change at 4:30 has an überwicked gallop designed for maximum neck abuse.

"Ausgebombt" is one of the "different" tracks on this album; as has been said, it really does sound like Motörhead. But we all know that that's a good thing. The only difference is that, unlike Lemmy, Tom Angelripper sings in the GERMAN ACCENT OF FEAR, and God bless him for it. Fun, bass-driven thrash rock with an awesome gang vocal chorus. "Don't Walk Away," the closer, is a throwaway cover tune that shows that even the most fatalistic, battle-scarred of German thrashers still have a sense of humor and an appreciation for the fine art of goofy hard rock.

Then there's the two real highlights of this album. "Remember the Fallen," a tribute to all those who have "died in a senseless war," is a solid mid-tempo thrash anthem with a neat little guitar wail thrown into the riff and some truly awesome harsh vocals from Mr. Angelripper. The best part of this song is at about 2:10 where the thrashing comes to a stop in a long extended notes...fades...and then the drums pick back up and we thunder back into the steady march of the bullet-ridden dead. The other piece of pure kickassitude is "Baptism of Fire," which tears along at a nice pace with some sweet drumwork, seeming like another solid piece of thrash–until we get to the chorus. Oh my God, the chorus.

You know those moments where all the instruments fall into harmony on one rhythm and riff and just create the perfect conditions for headbanging? This is one of those–your spine jerks, your hair flies (and your hair BETTER be long enough to fly, motherfucker), your cranium bobs up and down like a bobblehead doll on methampetamines, and everything around you disappears into a trance of music-induced self-abuse. PTOMAINE! CREMATION! BAPTISM OF FIRE FUCKS YOU IN THE SPINE! This chorus is one of the top ten moments of thrash fucking metal, period, and is highly recommended for neck strength-building exercises.

So when all is said and done, Agent Orange is not exactly a masterpiece of thrash metal music, but it's certainly something you should buy for the combination of remarkably vicious gang vocals (did I mention those? They rock), solid riffage, and most of all, utter headbangability. If you find pleasure in the rapid vertical movement of your upper spine, neck and head, then this album is for you.

This is Sodom's best, at least of the ones I have heard (I am missing two or three from the 1990s). The great thing about this album, is that of the nine songs, six have a monster fucking jaw-dropping thrash break. Some of these are the most overt ever written. The first six songs are legendary, the last three merely okay. Overall, a very strong thrash album.

Starting off, Agent Orange... the fire that does not burn!!! Right from the get-go we have an efficient-pace headbanging monster of a riff, then some more before we start into the verses. We speed up, here's Tommy Angelripper with his lethal German accent. The chorus is a bit repetitive, but the riffs are fucking solid. Then, after one more verse... Thrash break!!! Sorta like the Chinese Fire Drill - everyone out of the car, go fucking crazy, and it's all different now, man thrash breaks are the stuff dreams are made of. Speed up, throw in a few more riffs, a sloppy but effective solo and then back to the verses. Man, what a song. Textbook thrash right here.

Next - Tired and Red. The main verse riff is total Sodom - pretty much of the type that they've had over the past God only knows how many albums. These guys know how to milk a somewhat limited riff set and do it well - again, what really makes this band interesting is the counterpoint riffage, and that's what makes this album so good, that those riffs are so frequent and prominent. Anyway, about 1.49 in, you think the song is fading out, then... little acoustic interlude. Opeth, take notes, this is good stuff!! Then at 2.38.

"You have been hit upside the head with a large riff-like entity. There are broken teeth on the floor. Passages lead to the north and to the east. What shall we do?"

STAY AND BANG!!!! Holy god eating a frozen vagina fuckstick while a thousand monkeys copulate in the background. And this riff goes on for about a minute and a fucking half, and never gets old. Now THAT's a riff, kids. One more verse and game over. What a fucking game.

Incest starts off average, goes through some fast verses, fast soloing, and then... you guessed it!! Jaw-breaking midpace riff!! Man, when I was a kid, we had good music, none of this Haunted bullshit you young ones think are thrash. I'll show ya what REAL thrash is. THIS IS REAL THRASH.

Remember the Fallen.... now this is how to do a ballad. It sounds just like the rest of their songs. Cheesy bands, take note - when you want to write a song for your dead homey, make it fast, make it loud. I don't think Sodom have ever written a ballad - just blazing fucking thrash monsters. This one moves along at efficient speed, it's like they start with the midpaced thrash riff. Sounds good to me. They speed up every once in a while too, another good one. Four for four on the winner scale so far.

Magic Dragon - this isn't about puff, it's about fucking war! KRIEG IST KRIEG!!! Yes, and Socrates ist Socrates, but I diverge. Another midpaced monster opener, then we seriously fucking speed up and the solo grows more and more incoherent... what's this at 4.29? Fast fucking thrash break! Three riffs in series assault your goddamn senses, leave you dead, ALL OPETH FANS MUST DIE!!!!

(I love writing incoherent reviews while slightly buzzed. Jagermeister und Sodom ist Krieg!!!! Hey, my German ist improving when I drinken. Schweet.)

Anyway... to the Exhibition Bout. Fast song. Kinda fast thrash break, but oh yeah you fucking notice the difference in the riff style. This album is so fucking brilliant in that sense of the word. Oh yes, das est Einstein.

Ausgebombt. Here is where the album kinda takes a mood change. This sounds like a Motorhead song, not a total thrash monster, but it is still one of my favourites on the album. "save us from the wintry cold!" It's catchy, it's fun, and I really like Motorhead, so fucken you.

Baptism of Fire - back to the thrashing heavy stuff. Solid midpaced opener, speed up, and then in the middle... what we have is a solo break. The riff under the solo does not annihilate me... but the fast riff after the solo definitely does!!! Good things come to those who wait. Not a textbook thrash break, but still this song exhibits the ten classic signs of ownage. (Signs 1 to 10: riffs.)

The last song is a Tank cover - remember Motorhead, this band sounds like them. This is classic speed metal and again decently executed. It's probably the weakest song on here, but that just gives relative praise to the rest of the album, which is a total Christ-fucking of the highest order.

Well, that brings us to the end, kids. Good bye. Hope you enjoyed the review. I'm gonna go get my neck surgery now.

'Agent Orange' was the album that raised Sodom to the knowledge of the metal public. The earlier releases were noted by many but 'Agent Orange' was their actual breakthrough album. Sodom took most of it's early influences from such bands as Hellhammer (not the drummer) and Venom and not from straight thrash acts like it's brethren, Kreator and Destruction. Their first release, 'In the Sign of Evil', is actually one of the earliest black metal releases. Sodom has always been my personal favorite because of the stripped down style they've had since the beginning. This is no nonsense, straightforward thrash metal.

'Agent Orange' features the best line-up Sodom ever had with Frank Blackfire (joined Kreator soon after the 'Ausgebombt' EP) in the guitar and the original Chris Witchhunter in the drums. The album mostly consists of tracks of straight in-your-face thrash metal but some of them fall into slower paces. For example the title track is pure straightforward thrash metal that'll get you moshing in no time but 'Remember the Fallen' is a slower and more atmospheric track, a tribute to all the people who have died in wars. Also 'Tired and Red' goes from a fast thrash part to a slow acoustic passage with melancholic guitarlines and then into a mid paced thrash part. When the thrash part goes on, the best part of 'Agent Orange' really strikes up. That is Frank Blackfire and his guitar. The solo in that part of 'Tired and Red' is unbelievably good and his solos in the other songs don't lose by much. Also Blackfire has composed much of 'Agent Orange' (if I'm not mistaken) and it shows. The riffs are better than in most other Sodom albums and the songs flow very well. There isn't much variation, but since when has Sodom needed any? The title song is six minutes of mostly the same riff and same drum rhythm at breakneck speed but doesn't get boring at all.

The album isn't all thrash though. Seventh track, 'Ausgebombt', is a hardcore track and it also formed the center of their most selling release, the 'Ausgebombt' EP. It also showed towards what sound Sodom would go in the future. Also 'Don't Walk Away' is a cover from a NWOBHM band Tank and doesn't sound anything like rest of the stuff. Those two songs break the flow of great thrash metal from the speakers. Besides that fact, there's nothing wrong with the CD.