Breaking news! Sodom have just announced a new lineup via their facebook page! Sadly, their guitarist Bernd „Bernermann” Kost and their drummer Markus “Makka” Freiwald are out of the band. Sodom’s mastermind stated: “After much thought and reflection I have decided on this difficult step to pave the way for new challenges,” explains Tom. “Sodom have always lived off the commitment and passion of everybody involved. Makka was part of the band for almost eight years, Bernemann even for more than twenty. To obviate a possible routine setting in which would make it impossible to continue our creative work optimally, I would like to start all over again with fresh and hungry musicians. At the same time I would like to say thank you to Bernemann and Makka for many successful years in which we performed fantastic shows and released a number of real metal manifestos.”
However, the new lineup features Huskey on the drums (Asphyx, Desaster) and the legendary Frank Blackfire (ex-Sodom, ex-Kreator, Assassin, Frank Blackfire) plus Yorck Segatz on guitars, meaning that this is the first time in Sodom's history that the band has two guitarists: "Two guitarists allow us much more possibilities live, so we will be able to play tracks in future that we weren’t able to perform as a trio,” says Tom Angelripper. He even said that the band is writing new material as we speak: “We’ll start writing new material as soon as possible and plan to release a single with at least two brand-new numbers and a bonus track to give our fans a taste of our upcoming album.”
Frank was in the band between 1987-1989. He appeared on Sodom’s classic releases such as Expurse of Sodomy (EP), cult album Persecution Mania and on live album Mortal Way of Life. He left Sodom two weeks before Agent Orange European tour in 1989 and was replaced by the Mekong Delta guitarist, Uwe Baltrusch, for that occasion. Right after, Frank Blackfire joined Kreator for their US tour, and to make things worse, both Sodom and Kreator were signed on the same label – Noise Records. Frank Blackfire played on masterful albums Coma of Souls, Renewal and Cause for Conflict. He also appeared with Kreator live in East Berlin on Extreme Aggression tour. Bergemann is a huge loss for Sodom, but Tom Angelripper just couldn’t have found a better replacement than the legendary Frank Blackfire.