By Sean Palmerston
You have to hand it to Tom Angelripper. Here is one musician that makes the most of everything he has. After wowing us all five years ago with the very extensive Lords of Depravity double DVD collection which chronicled the band’s first decade together, Tom has taken his time to put together another even more extensive retrospective on the group. Second time around finds the majority of the material concentrating on the current incarnation of Sodom, which also features guitarist Bernemann and drummer Bobby. This lineup has remained the same since 1997’s ‘Til Death Do Us Unite, making it the longest running version in the band’s storied history.
Again divided into two discs, the first DVD is another incredibly in-depth documentary on the band. Covering from 1997 to essentially present day, it tells the tale of the band struggling to stay alive in the not-so-metal 90s and persevering through hard work, lots of European festivals and smartly planned international touring. Who knew Sodom were quite so big in South America? This is a band that really pays attention to their fan-base, smartly touring where they are most wanted and not worrying about spending all their time trying to make record companies happy. Quite a bit of time is also invested in discussing Tom’s solo project Onkle Tom, but seeing as how essentially Angelripper is Sodom it makes sense for its inclusion. One thing that may be a negative for some fans is that the documentary is primarily in German, but thankfully the English subtitles are very easy to follow along with.
The second disc presents the band’s official 25th anniversary show at the 2007 edition of Wacken Open Air in rural Germany. It is a momentous occasion that features songs from their entire career and special guest appearances by many of the group’s former members. Like everything else Sodom, the gig is an extensive one that takes two hours to play out in its entirety. It is a real treat to see the band playing in front of a huge festival audience – something you would never see in North America, sadly – and like most released footage to come from Wacken in the past ten years this is captured beautifully on film with a multi-camera crew and not too many outrageously quick edits.
Lords Of Depravity Part II is an amazingly thorough, well-put together package but it might just be way too much for the beginner Sodom fan. With a running time of over six hours total, there is a shitload of Sodom to be had here for a reasonable price. If you are a diehard fan of the band you will want to have this in your collection. In fact chances are you probably already do. If you are on the fence about it, make sure that your Sodom album collection is up to date first and then pick this up. It is the perfect completing piece, like adding nice fresh whipped cream to a homemade apple pie, it is that extra little thing that will finish your Sodom collection perfectly.
(SPV/Steamhammer)
Rating: 9.0
