Of all of their records, just the self-titled 25th anniversary SODOM album is their most unusual record so far. A daring step, because many old fans (and I’m one of them) could and will have their difficulties with Sodom. I have to admit that, after the first listening, I was rather surprised – not exactly in the most positive sense of the word. And now, after 6 times, I still have problems with the album which is, on the one hand, absolutely worth listening to, and on the other hand very atypical of SODOM. The fat Thrash Metal of the last two albums is still there, but some new ingredients have been added, and you don’t have to like all of them. But one thing’s for sure: The album absolutely deserves your attention. The acoustic guitar intro already makes clear that something extraordinary has been released upon the SODOM listener. The first song Blood On Your Lips is more varied than most we’ve known form that band so far. Despite the (sometimes brutal) heaviness, you can’t miss the high melody factor that remains over most parts of the album. Beware of the strange part in the middle of the song! Anyway, it was rather courageous to choose that song as the opener. With Wanted Dead, it’s getting faster and still heavier. The screams especially (but not only) in that song remind me of Slayer in the nineties. On Sodom, Angelripper screams a lot and nearly doesn’t grunt anymore – I must say that I neither like that nor the vocal- and other effects that have been put on the album here and there. Buried In The Justice Ground seems to be the result of SODOM writing a traditional mid-tempo Heavy Metal anthem. The song has got a chorus which is catchy on the one hand, but at the same time it’s also a bit bulky because of its complexity. Sounds strange? Just listen! Then, with City Of God, they speed it up again, but the melody factor is kept high. The melodic guitar leads all over the album are really surprising as, some years ago; Angelripper didn’t want to have them in the music of SODOM, as he said in some interviews. Bibles & Guns (rather fast and heavy) and Axis Of Evil (mid-tempo) are, apart from the spoken part in the middle of Axis Of Evil, not that exciting. But from the titles, I imagine that those songs are about some sick political and social developments in the USA. Lords Of Depravity is the most typical SODOM-song. That one would also fit on Tapping The Vein, Code Red or M-16. By the way, I still think that M-16 had more catchy hits than Sodom. Okay, what else have we got here? There’s No Captures, well-written and well-balanced between melody and Thrash Metal parts, followed by a really great song called Lay Down The Law, which unites groove, melody, speed and heaviness as well as old and new elements of SODOM. Punk-Thrash reigns the simple and fast Nothing To Regret, but somehow, the song still sounds like the rest of the album. Sodom is finished with The Enemy Inside (already known from the live album One Night In Bangkok), another song that contains all the trademarks of the new album. Some of those trademarks, I still don’t like. But, without any doubt, SODOM have created a lot of very good songs, putting old and new elements together. Although my conservative thrashers soul is opposing against that, I have to give 8 points. A lower rating wouldn’t be justified.