In the Sign of Evil

In the Sign of Evil
EP by Sodom
Released	February 1985
Recorded	1984
Genre	Black metal
Length	19:12
Label	Devil's Game
Producer	Wolfgang Eichholz
Sodom chronology
Victims of Death (1984) In the Sign of Evil (1984) Obsessed by Cruelty (1986)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Kerrang!	[1]

In the Sign of Evil is the first EP and the debut release by German thrash metal band Sodom, released in 1984 by Devil's Game independent record label. The record is considered part of the first wave of black metal.^[2] Despite the melodic rawness, the over-the-top lyrics ("My life begins at midnight twelve, masturbate to kill myself") and the elementary structure of the songs, two of them ("Outbreak of Evil" and "Blasphemer") were regularly played by the band twenty-five years into its career, and are considered crowd favorites.

The tracks from In the Sign of Evil were re-recorded in 2007 and released as The Final Sign of Evil.^[3]

Release

The EP is widely available as the bonus tracks in the compact disc version of their debut album Obsessed by Cruelty (1986). Tracks from this EP have appeared on all three live Sodom albums: Mortal Way of Live (1988),^[4] Marooned - Live (1994)^[5] and One Night in Bangkok (2003).^[6]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Angel Ripper, except "Witching Metal", by Aggressor. 

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Outbreak of Evil"	4:49
2.	"Sepulchral Voice"	4:31
3.	"Blasphemer"	3:05
4.	"Witching Metal"	3:13
5.	"Burst Command ’til War"	3:36
Total length:		19:12

Personnel

Sodom

• Angel Ripper (Thomas Such) – vocals, bass guitar
• Grave Violator (Josef "Peppi" Dominik) – guitar
• Witchhunter (Christian Dudek) – drums

Production

• Detleft Schmidt – sleeve design
• Horst Müller – engineering
• Sven Clasen – band management
• Joachim Pieczulski – album cover painting
• Wolfgang Eicholz – production

References

1. Dome, Malcolm (4 April 1985). "Sodom 'In the Sign of Evil'". Kerrang! 91. London, UK: Morgan Grampian. p. 12.
2. "Black Metal Foundations Top 20: The First Wave". Terrorizer (128): 42–43. 2005.
3. Henderson, Alex. "Final Sign of Evil - Sodom". Allmusic. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
4. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Mortal Way of Live - Sodom". Allmusic. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
5. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Marooned - Sodom". Allmusic. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
6. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "One Night in Bangkok - Sodom". Allmusic. Retrieved 2 November 2012.

External links

• In the Sign of Evil at Discogs (list of releases)