Sodom, 21st June 2025, Pandæmonium, Copenhell Festival, Denmark

Photo: Zoran www.sonic-shot.com

It was a good year for classic thrash metal fans at this edition of Copenhell, with Exodus and Kreator delivering strong performances. On top of that, closing the Pandæmonium stage were German legends Sodom, who are set to release their seventeenth album, The Arsonist.

Taking the stage at 11:30 PM on the final day of the festival is far from an ideal timeslot, but Sodom were determined to give it their best—and they managed to draw a decent crowd as well.
The band currently consists of two longtime members: vocalist/bassist Tom Angelripper, the founding member, and lead guitarist Frank “Blackfire” Gosdzik, who returned to the band in 2018 after originally playing with them in the late ’80s.

The band had some initial sound issues but managed to adjust things a few songs in. The hour-long set didn’t hold many surprises, but it worked well. Their performance was professional and solid, though the band didn’t appear particularly inspired. Perhaps it felt like a one-off show, and it’s worth noting they were playing to a crowd with four full days of festival behind them. The audience was clearly a bit groggy, though still managed to stir up some circle pits and the like.

It’s always a pleasure to hear classics like “Agent Orange,” “City of God,” and “Bombenhagel,” but it should be considered borderline illegal for the band not to play “Ausgebombt”—especially at a festival.

Sodom delivered a good show, but the late timeslot and the exhausted crowd definitely had an impact. It’s about time the band returns to Copenhagen for a proper headlining show—and with the new album on the horizon, that may well happen soon.

SETLIST:

1. Silence Is Consent
2. Jabba the Hut
3. The Crippler
4. Nuclear Winter
5. Blasphemer
6. The Conqueror
7. Agent Orange
8. City Of God
9. The Saw Is the Law
10. Outbreak of Evil
11. Remember The Fallen
12. Bombenhagel