If we travel back to 1992, heavy metal had some interesting releases back then. Sodom, part of the infamous Teutonic Thrash Metal league released probably its most experimental album, combining powerful guitar riffs, fast paced beats with Tom’s harsh and raw voice.
Tapping the Vein sees its light 32 years later with an ultimate collector’s edition for hardcore sodomaniac fans. An album marked by the animosity of band members, the departure of Witchhunter from Sodom, but also for being the first appearance of Andy Brings, whom Metal Imperium had the opportunity to talk with.
Not only a homage to the previous drummer, but a war cry requested by all fans who wanted to see Tapping the Vein after such a long time, including in this release some interesting memorabilia.
M.I. - From all the records, why reissue Tapping the Vein?
Basically, every other album from Sodom has been reissued, in one way or another. All of them have been repressed, even for example M-16 had a box set release, and everything has been put out with a special edition, but Tapping the Vein had not yet been released. The original vinyl is getting mind-blowing prices, all over the roof on the internet. Plus, the fans were always asking when the album was coming out or getting a second release. For the fans, Tapping the Vein, is a cult classic album, like Agent Orange.
As a band, you cannot plan or predict this. The fans do decide what they love, what they enjoy most, and obviously Tapping the Vein is an important album from all worldwide sodomaniacs. BMG contacted us and wanted to do a reissue of the album, even without me and Tom, but it would be better if we participated. I own a huge archive of photos, videos, and all Sodom’s memorabilia. Tom and I were eager to put all of this together.
Tapping the Vein was my first album. I was very young, still in high school, when I joined the band. 32 years later, doing this again, it does feel like I’m back with Sodom, but also not back. I’m working with Tom, and the fans are very happy that the album is coming out. We’re also very happy too, because this is not only a good album, but also a very emotional story as well. Former band members don’t talk to each other anymore, but Tom and I are still on good terms. It is definitely a great thing that this is finally happening for everybody.
M.I. - Back in 1992, you were the new guitar player, but emotionally and personally how was the band after the 5th album?
That’s a very good question. I joined Sodom in November 1991, and of course Sodom was already a big band. I was a student in high school and suddenly I was in a professional band.
I was contacted by this group of people who are older and more experienced than me, but somehow have grown apart from each other. Tom and Chris were not the best friends anymore. When success comes, business takes over and it’s not always fun, beer and parties anymore. You start to perceive your band as a business, and this when things start to shift. That’s when I came to the band. I was the glue that held Sodom back together for another year. Even though they were not good friends anymore, professionally, Tom and Chris were working together quite well. I was the right guy at the right time who arrived and wanted this so much. They still wanted to prove they were a relevant thrash metal band without any kind of compromises, and not following any trends.
Emotionally, for me it was a steep learning curve. It was my first time in a studio, on tour, on a tour bus with twelve other guys. I adapted pretty quickly, but regarding public hygiene with other men it’s not the same as living in your parents’ house.
M.I. - Could we say that after Agent Orange and Better Off Dead, this your experimental album morphing crazy riffs with a heavier production?
I love the album Better Off Dead, especially because it was Sodom’s first album I really heard.
Initially, I was never a fan of the band, but Better Off Dead convinced me that this is really a great band. On the other hand, this album was quite problematic for the die-hard fans, because it’s neither fast nor super brutal. Sodom fans, back then and even nowadays, always wanted the brutal stuff. Perhaps it was a conscious decision to go back to the brutal side of the band, but it just happened.
I brought this to the table; the real punk rock guitar plays and the real stuff. We didn’t have a masterplan, it just came out of inspiration. Plus, they wanted to prove something, which was if the Tapping the Vein would have been softer, we needed to go to the right direction, to a more brutal side.
M.I. - This was also Chris’ last production. Would you feel reissue the album is paying tribute to Witchhunter and honor his memory?
Absolutely! It’s very sad that Chris died 16 years ago, and he isn’t here to celebrate this with us. The end was sad, and we didn’t part good ways.
This is still a difficult topic for me to talk about. Now that we are older, this issue could have been dealt differently, but back then you only have a hammer or a screwdriver, and this isn’t enough to fix the problem. This is a tribute to Chris, I did the remix, because he’s always an integrative part of Sodom’s history. This is his last album as an official member, and he was out in December 1992.
It was a very intense year, we created this very interesting album that people love to this day. I’m very proud to honor Witchhunter’s memory, because I was also part of that era too.
M.I. - For a lot of people, 1992 was the golden year of death metal. We have Deicide – Legion; Cannibal Corpse – Tomb of the Mutilated; Bolt Thrower – The IV Crusade. Can we say that Tapping the Vein could be part of this list with a bit of death metal influences?
We could say it, but I would say that it isn’t true. All those albums you mentioned, I have never heard them. I know they exist, but neither me nor Tom or even Chris were listening to death metal. I was never a death metal fan, I don’t even know the first thing about Bolt Thrower.
At that time, I was listening to Skid Row, Faith No More, Ugly Kid Joe and a lot of thrash metal. Tom is older than me, so I was getting in touch with Agent Steel, Metal Church, Nasty Savage, Slayer, Anthrax, early Overkill, Bad Brains, Septic Death, all kinds of stuff way before death metal.
The only death metal record that I own is Death – Scream Bloody Gore. Nevertheless, when this album came out (1987), the term death metal didn’t exist yet. Concerning Tapping the Vein death metal influences, I honestly don’t know. Perhaps it’s because Tom is singing in a lower register. Plus, Tapping the Vein cannot be a death metal album, because for death metal you have to tune down the guitar and bass very low, and our album is in standard tuning.
If people believe this is Sodom’s death metal album, it’s great. I think it’s Sodom’s blue album, because of the cover. The Beatles have a White Album; Metallica a Black Album; Sodom a blue one.
M.I. - The album will be out on the 15th of November with triple LP, double CD, a media book and a cassette with also a live show in Tokyo in 1992. Definitely the ultimate collector’s edition!
Yes. We decided to approach this with a whole mindset that we are just doing this once. This should be the best, the final and only release of the deluxe version.
We’re planning not to do this in the next 10 years, unless there’s a huge demand requesting another release. We wanted to launch the ultimate edition. We actually went through our archives, collecting photo after photo. I brough some cake, Tom some coffee and we spent endless hours looking after pictures and videos.
I already had all these live recordings. Thank God we had the original lithograph of the cover. We also wanted to put a spotlight in the music. We didn’t want to put a Sodom watch or coffee mug, just to make it more expensive. Sodom comes from the working class, and we wanted this ultimate edition to be affordable, even though the cost living today changed a lot. This is just the music, story, photos and the band. Even if you don’t have money to buy it, you can listen to it on Spotify. The label asked us if we wanted to keep this record outside of Spotify, and we said no. Everybody should have the chance to listen to it.
M.I. - The media book will cover your best moments from the album, but what about any bad moment you’d like to highlight?
There were several moments, but there was a moment that killed me which was when I realized that Tom and Chris were not best friends anymore.
After two months being in the band, one day in the morning, we went to our rehearsal room and the door was open. Tom and Chris were already inside, and I heard them shouting and arguing against each other. I tried to be silent as I could, because I was super shocked.
I was listening to them, and once the arguing calmed down, I opened the door and pretended to that I have just arrived. I had to process this first, and even talked to the manager mentioning that I overheard a conversation and what’s the deal here. He said that their relationship is not good anymore.
There were some moments on the tour where Chris was playing that, for me, kind of compromised the performance. Even today, your performance is what matters. You leave your ego at the door, your problems in the dressing room, but playing live you have to be professional. Sure, everyone makes mistakes, I’m not perfect, but Chris brought his demons to the stage, and he crossed the line. I was the new guy, but also a punk and responsible for myself. If you screw the show, I will talk to you, and that will not be a pleasant conversation. Traveling to Europe and in Japan, in the same year I finished high school, and even though the good outweighs the bad, I had to reach out to him.
M.I. - You celebrated your 40 years career anniversary. Definitely, the band had its ups and downs. What’s the secret ingredient to keep delivering such amazing records?
The main one would be Tom and his voice. He’s the captain, but the captain depends on how the crew rows. Sometimes the crew is weaker, but the ship always moves forwards.
The thing is that after 42 years after the band was founded, we’re still going strong, healthy and performing and I don’t see why they cannot continue for more 10 years. For the first time we see musicians in extreme metal bands getting older. This doesn’t happen with jazz musicians, whereas metal is much more physically demanding. Slayer stopped for a reason, Tom Araya cannot do this anymore, even though they are playing a show here and there.
Sodom, Kreator or Destruction are constantly on tour. Tom is 61 years old, so thrash metal is getting old for the first time along with its protagonists. Let’ just hope that everyone is in good shape for the next 20 years, in order to have more fun. The main factor is the singer and his or her voice. If that changes, everything will change. Good or bad, Sodom’s ship is always sailing.
For Portuguese version, click here
Listen to Sodom, on Spotify
Questions by André Neves
