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I am happy to announce that reports of Thrash metal's death have been greatly exaggerated. 2001 has brought killer albums by veterans Destruction and Kreator, and this new album by Sodom (celebrating their 20th anniversary!) is definitely one of the best albums this year.

Despite claims to the contrary, the album seems to be lyrically quite oriented toward the Vietnam war. The song "Napalm in the morning" even opens with one of Robert Duvall's lines in the movie "Apocalypse Now". Whether that's it or not, it doesn't matter. It's the music that counts, and let me tell you that this album stands amongst Sodom's best, if not the best of the genre, period. Aggressive from start to finish, even the cover of "Surfin' Bird" that closes the album is played at full speed and feels more like the bird is being blasted. ;) Your head will start banging by itself just a couple of seconds into most songs, most of them have killer riffs, strong vocal work, and, well, after 20 years, do I really need to praise the musicianship of this band? Didn't think so. All songs are good although the cover at the end sounds a bit out of place - still good though. The songs "Napalm in the Morning" (great opening) and "M-16" stand out here as well. This is the kind of album I hate to review: It's pretty hard to say much about such a good album, other than: Just go buy it NOW! This one goes into my top 5 so far this year and I don't think anything will displace it!

There's also a limited edition digipak with two bonus tracks.