Most of you are probably thinking: What? Grave Violator and Witchhunter on the SODOM lineup? Calm down, Tom decided to give another chance to the prime recordings of this historical band. In The Sign Of Evil was originally released in 1984 in the form of an EP; as Tom explains, the record company didn't allow them to include more tracks in the debut release since they didn't have much faith on them. Well, I couldn't blame them since the sound was pretty rough and completely blasphemous; to help you in this, just think of the following quoted lines from the track Blasphemer: My life begins at midnight twelve, masturbate to kill myself.
Nevertheless, Tom reunited with his old-time bandmates and decided to recapture and re-live some of the 80s atmosphere when SODOM made their maiden steps in the Metal scene. Grave Violator brought in the studio some old tapes containing full tracks, fragments of songs and rehearsal sessions that were never released. Eventually, The Final Sign Of Evil contains the whole In The Sign Of Evil EP plus some unreleased material.
This release surprised me from the very beginning since SODOM made the re-recording version sounding as it was back in the 80s. This means a rough production, a dry drum sound, high-pitched guitars and out-of-tune vocals. Amazingly, the album sounds like an underground demo cassette (not CD) that would see the light of the day under a handmade artwork. The opening guitar riff of Blasphemer will send shivers down your spine comprising the old-school echo effect; Tom sounds like he did two decades before besides his VENOM-esque bass guitar, Witchhunter torments his drum kit and Grave Violator performs some vintage guitar shreds. In the highlights there is Witching Metal which was considered as 'Black Metal' those days, the classic thrasher Outbreak Of Evil with the catchy chorus and Sepulchral Voice with the matching a la Cronos vocals. This album is the excellent example of how the solid German Metal scene was making the first steps with bands like SODOM, KREATOR and DESTRUCTION. Take some time and think that these tracks were originally recorded in the mid 80s when the genres Black Metal and Grindcore were undiscovered and you'll realize how difficult was for SODOM to survive in the underground scene.
So, close your ears to those saying: they should honor their history by re-working the tracks and buy this album without further consideration. This is SODOM; blasphemous, evil, thrash all the way and completely raw and unpolished! Metal war Sodom, Wildfire Sodom, Bloodlust Sodom, Witching Metal!.