Sodom - Agent Orange
Review: In midlife Sodom faced a crisis, in that they had to decide whether to immerse themselves in the rising genre of underground metal or stick to the more listener-friendlier speed metal ("thrash metal" as called by the uninitiated).
On "Agent Orange," Sodom straddled the line, and what results is a series of cadenced riffs and shouted choruses that are not without merit but are not particular exciting either. The speed metal influence is present in muffled strumming and offbeat chording supplementing a primal rhythm in counterpoint, and the underground music sneaks through in technique and vocals, but the hybrid has little overall direction that allows it to make a clear statement of anything. This can even be found in the lyrics, a word salad weeping over war and destruction, but without any values of its own. Probably this album should be swallowed by time and better works remembered.