The unholy German triumvirate of Kreator, Destruction and Sodom helped bridge thrash metal between the U.S. and the rest of the world in the mid ’80s and also injected the music with a new level of savagery. Obviously Slayer, Exodus and (early) Metallica were extremely heavy, but their German counterparts were even more raw and unhinged — less musically accomplished, but decidedly more evil sounding.
While all three bands have been through various lineup shifts since their inception, they continue to tour and record. In fact, Destruction released a new album, D.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N. on August 22 and Kreator’s new disc, Hordes of Chaos, drops on January 13. But where’s Sodom?
The group’s last album, The Final Sign of Evil, wasn’t completely new; it was a re-recording of their debut 1984 EP, In the Sign of Evil, along with seven previously unreleased songs written during that era. The disc featured the return of original members Josef Dominic (a.k.a. Grave Violator) and drummer Chris Dudek (a.k.a. Witchhunter). Sadly, Witchhunter died in September, but he was actually in poor health when the project began and, before that, he hadn’t played with Sodom since 1992’s Tapping the Vein.
We’d love to see some kind of massive German Devastation tour featuring all three bands, but according to Pollstar.com, Sodom only have two shows scheduled, December 19 in Bochum, Germany and January 30 in Soi, Germany. Hopefully, they’ll be busy writing between now and the new year, and we’ll see a genuinely new studio album in 2009.
As for Destruction, they’ll be touring Europe between November 26 and December 22, and Kreator will be hitting the States in April and May 2009 with Exodus, Warbringer and Belphegor. So much for That German Devastation tour.
