review by: Roberto Martinelli

Sodom shows no sign of straying from the hard, aggressive metal path that has marked its albums since the beginning of its nearly 20-year career. This latest album is a collection of hard-hitting, thrashy, rockin' tunes. This time around the album is inspired by the Vietnam War.

The songs are fairly simple in structure and execution, but that doesn't mean they're boring. I had one of the best days in recent memory while driving around town on a sunny day with the windows down and M-16 cranked. The reason for Sodom's latest success lies mainly in the quality of the production, which is full, meaty and organic. Harris John's work allows the solid chops of Bobby Schottkowski's drums to kick ass even more. The final track is a cover of The Freshmen's "Surfin' Bird," which would normally be ridiculous, but considering the strength of the album that precedes it, it works.

Long gone are the days when Sodom couldn't really play. The musicianship on M-16 is tight. Tom Angelripper's throat and bass playing are in as fine form as ever. In fact, Angelripper's high and raspy vocal style is more extreme than on the band's benchmark Agent Orange album from 1988. Check out our interview with Tom in this issue. With songs like "Cannon Fodder," "Among the Weirdcong" and "I Am the War," M-16 is a guaranteed dose of headbanging aggression.