Riff Police! Pull Over! #65: Sacred Reich Vs Sodom!

In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked “Agent Orange” as 63rd on their list of “The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time”. It’s the third album from Sodom, a Thrash trio formed in 1981 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany and earned them their first commercial success having been one of the first thrash metal albums to enter the German album charts when it appeared in 1989. One of the most successful Thrash acts of all time having shifted over 8 million albums Worldwide, Sodom were a big influence on the 80’s and 90’s scene. The album itself is themed on the Vietnam War with a liner note in dedication to all those Soldiers and Civilians who have died in the senseless aggression of all wars.

In August 2014, Revolver Magazine placed the debut album from Sacred Reich, “Ignorance” on its “14 Thrash Albums You Need to Own” list. It dropped in 1987, 2 years before “Agent Orange” by Sodom and was co-produced by Bill Metoyer who had engineered most of the early work of Slayer. While both opening tracks are at considerably different tempos with Sacred Reich starting out slower, it’s pretty clear that both do in fact share the exact same riff. So what are the chances that Sodom did the dirty? You’d have to ask guitarist Frank “Blackfire” Gosdzik on that one. As of January 2018 he’s now back in Sodom after a near 29 year absence… …Sacred Reich will be returning with a new album “Awakening” on 23rd August via Metal Blade Records with former Machine Head drummer Dave McClain back in the fold. That date is of course ironic as it will be 23 years this year since their last album, 1996’s “Heal”.