Gelsenkirchen. Germany’s most picturesque municipality – if you’re into heavy industry, mining and soccer, that is. But next to its main exports (formerly coal, nowadays redundant miners), this quiet little town in the heart of the Ruhr area has another successful export that may be less well-known among the general public but is nonetheless extremely popular on the international metal scene: Sodom.

Here, bang in the middle of this industrial Babylon, three ambitious devotees of canned beer and heavy metal got together some 27 years ago, donning the trust-inspiring aliases of Angelripper, Grave Violator and Witchhunter to rise from the morbid working-class Moloch and delight the world with their musical creations. Although their musical talent in the ideological wake of the likes of Motörhead, Venom and German crooner Harald Juhnke was more or less limited to consuming a crate of beer before turning the amps on full blast, the "concept" of torturing their instruments as fast as possible, as loudly as possible and with as little complexity as possible worked. The sound of these three forerunners of the cultural apocalypse, more than just a little unconventional at the time, went down extremely well with all those who considered Iron Maiden too musically advanced and Venom too slow.

Sodom the way they were and will continue to be: loud, raw, brutal, unadulterated and full on. From the very first to the last note, from opener to encore, all fucking night long.

• Gelsenkirchen. Germany s most picturesque municipality if you re into heavy industry, mining and soccer, that is. But next to its main exports (formerly coal, nowadays redundant miners), this quiet little town in the heart of the Ruhr area has another successful export that may be less well-known among the general public but is nonetheless extremely popular on the international metal scene: Sodom.

Gelsenkirchen. Germany s most picturesque municipality if you re into heavy industry, mining and soccer, that is. But next to its main exports (formerly coal, nowadays redundant miners), this quiet little town in the heart of the Ruhr area has another successful export that may be less well-known among the general public but is nonetheless extremely popular on the international metal scene: Sodom.Steamhammer Us