Sodom - Agent Orange (1989)

As sad as it sounds this is the only Sodom record I’ve heard and since I’ve known about the band for a long time it really just doesn’t make sense. Nevertheless its true and I’ve come to realize recently that I just don’t care much about new music, I really don’t. Sure, I’ll still buy the new albums from my favorite bands, but truly the days of randomly trying new bands is not something I’m much into. Especially when there are just so many amazing albums from the 80’s and even the 90’s that I haven’t gotten my hands on yet. Anyway, though, let’s talk about Agent Orange.

Released twenty one years ago today, ‘Agent Orange’ was the third album for these Germans and although I’ve heard that earlier Sodom is quite intense and fast, this album is a bit toned down. Of course some songs like, ‘Agent Orange’ & ‘Incest’ are quite fast and frantic thrash metal songs, but then there’s the slower almost epic sounding, ‘Remember the Fallen’ and you’ve also just got to love Sodom’s cover version of Tank’s, ‘Don’t Walk Away,’ which is not thrash at all, but pure NWOBHM styled music. ‘Ausgebombt’ has always been my favorite from this album since it’s actually quite catchy and ‘Exhibition Bout’ is just pure headbanging thrash metal bliss. As well I think it’s interesting the way the band throws in the acoustic part in the middle of ‘Tired and Red.’ While a band like Metallica had used acoustic intros to their songs I don’t seem to recall any other thrash band in the 80’s having acoustic guitars popping up two minutes into their song.

In the booklet the band writes, ‘This album is dedicated to all people - soldiers and civilians - who died by senseless aggressions of wars all over the world,’ but of course the title of the album is a reference to the chemical the U.S. army sprayed across the Vietnam countryside during the Vietnam war.

When all's said and done, Agent Orange is a fantastic record, although it’s a bit interesting how different this album is when compared to the records their German comrades in Destruction and Kreator were making at the same time. Nevertheless a great release and as stated in my opening paragraph it’s time to turn back to the past and get my hands on all these old treasures I’ve been neglecting all these years.