Tapping the Vein in Bloomington, MN

For all of their acknowledged contributions to the
death metal
genre in its late-'80's infancy, the fact remains that Germany's
Sodom
were, in essence, a
thrash
and
speed metal
band, ever bound to the mindset of an earlier, pre-
death
generation. So it was surprising, but not altogether shocking, in the wake of their touring humiliation by Brazilian
giants
Sepultura
, when
attempted to make the transition from
to
themselves with 1992's
Tapping the Vein
. The adoption of bottom-heavy guitars, double kick-drum work, and a throatier delivery from main
Tom Angelripper
was evident as soon as the manic opening tandem of
"Body Parts"
"Skinned Alive"
blazed past (also note their horror-based lyrics, typical of
). But, although credit must go to
Angelripper
for at least trying to re-energize his band's diminishing career fortunes, the truth remains that
is a merely competent, never stunning, ever-tentative
album. Occasional standouts like
"One Step Over the Line"
"Bullet in the Head"
are pretty darn good by most standards of the time, but, like the even more memorable
"Hunting Season,"
which borrows a number of tricks form the above mentioned
, they're clearly following trends, not setting them like in years before. Any way you slice it, though,
fans could do a lot worse in terms of the group's terribly pot-holed recording output than by picking up
-- there's definitely something here worth hearing. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia