Sodom - Obsessed by Cruelty - May, 1986

Obsessed by Cruelty is a bit of a weird album... On one hand you have In the Sign of Evil preceeding it, which is one of the more influential black metal albums (Is it good? Not so sure about that) and on the other you have Persecution Mania, not to mention Expurse of Sodomy which are both shining examples of riff-happy thrash metal. So where does Obsessed by Cruelty fit in? Pretty much right smack dab in the middle. This is neither true thrash nor true black. The sound is pretty lo-fi, the band is sloppy, the vocals are somewhere between a shout and a shriek, and everything kind of runs together into a jumbled mess of quasi-thrash riffs, lyrics about evil and such, and pounding drums, which are what you hear the most of throughout the album.

The opening song, after the annoying, thankfully skippable intro is great, and is the one classic, enduring Sodom song, much like "Outbreak of Evil" on the previous EP. "Deathlike Silence" is a great, slightly primitive thrash song that kind of gets you excited for the rest of the album. Well, the rest of the album is a letdown. Onkel Tom should thank his stars for Frank Blackfire, otherwise Sodom probably would have faded into obscurity, pumping out more mindless slop like this. Honestly, if it weren't for "Deathlike Silence", and kind of "Proselytism Real", this would barely be worth owning.

1. Intro (The Rebirth)
2. Deathlike Silence
3. Brandish the Sceptre
4. Proselytism Real
5. Equinox
6. Obsessed by Cruelty
7. Fall of Majesty Town
8. Nuctemeron
9. Pretenders to the Throne
10. Witchhammer
11. Volcanic Slut

Score: 5/10