After cleaning house in the spring and rejuvenating his band with an entirely new line-up, Sodom mainman Thomas “Angelripper” Such is clearly excited about how things are going, releasing this three track EP while the band are still hard at work on their sixteenth studio album.

Having parted ways with guitarist Bernd “Bernemann” Kost, and drummer Markus “Makka” Freiwald back in January, Such recruited one of the band’s former guitarists and stalwart of the German Thrash Metal scene Frank “Blackfire” Gosdzik (Kreator), second guitarist Yorck Segatz (Beyondition), and drummer Stefan “Husky” Hüskens – aka Tormentor (Asphyx, Desaster).

Featuring two new songs and live cuts (dependent on the format), Partisan (SPV/Steamhammer) looks to serves as a great little appetiser for whatever comes next. The title track is five minutes of typically belligerent German Thrash, combining breakneck speed, a stomping groove and a vicious, screaming guitar solo. ‘Conflagration’ is all snarls and that familiar punky Motörhead vibe until it becomes a tighter, more metallic beast in its middle section before exploding like a hand grenade to the face at its climax. The release is completed by a crushing live version of ‘Tired and Red’ taken from the band’s classic 1989 album Agent Orange (Steamhammer/SPV) recorded at the Rock Hard Festival in May when the new line-up made their stage debut.

Available as a Digi-CD, 10” clear vinyl, and download/stream, Partisan is a suitably violent way to welcome the next incarnation of Sodom into your bleeding, ravaged ear holes.

8.0/10
GARY ALCOCK