8. září zemřel původní bubeník SODOM - Chris Dudek (a.k.a. Witchhunter). Důvodem bylo selhání orgánů.
Tom "Angelripper" se ke smutné události vyjadřuje takto:
"In the beginning of [last] week, I received the message that Chris Witchhunter had died. I was shocked — and you can believe me… I still am.
"As we recorded 'The Final Sign Of Evil' [2007 LP featuring re-recordings of the material from SODOM's classic first EP, 'In the Sign of Evil', plus bonus tracks], I noticed that Chris was in a very bad condition. It took more than 18 months to finish the recording for this record.
"My God, I don't know what to say about this tragedy and I'm feeling really down.
"After Chris had left the band, we didn't meet very often. If you take a look at the 'Lords Of Depravity' DVD, everybody realizes that Chris was really ill and confused. You can also understand why Chris and I didn't have much contact during the last few years. His sickness was a slow process and everybody saw what happened — but Chris never took a helping hand from anybody else. All of Chris' friends will tell you so. The worst thing was that Chris himself never realized the situation he was in and that it was important to accept help from others.
"I can't write any 'clear' words as I am in South America right now and we are flying from show to show. At first I thought that it might be better to cancel the tour but that wouldn't have been fair to our fans and Chris wouldn't have liked it either.
"I hope that all of Chris' friends will help his lovely mom and support her in these dark times. In the beginning of our friendship, she was like my own mom to me. After my return from South America I will surely support her, too. I hope that we can arrange a big show for Chris with a couple of friends to give him a special farewell and to make some money for his mother!
"Hey, Chris, you created music history. R.I.P.!"
"In the beginning of [last] week, I received the message that Chris Witchhunter had died. I was shocked — and you can believe me… I still am.
"As we recorded 'The Final Sign Of Evil' [2007 LP featuring re-recordings of the material from SODOM's classic first EP, 'In the Sign of Evil', plus bonus tracks], I noticed that Chris was in a very bad condition. It took more than 18 months to finish the recording for this record.
"My God, I don't know what to say about this tragedy and I'm feeling really down.
"After Chris had left the band, we didn't meet very often. If you take a look at the 'Lords Of Depravity' DVD, everybody realizes that Chris was really ill and confused. You can also understand why Chris and I didn't have much contact during the last few years. His sickness was a slow process and everybody saw what happened — but Chris never took a helping hand from anybody else. All of Chris' friends will tell you so. The worst thing was that Chris himself never realized the situation he was in and that it was important to accept help from others.
"I can't write any 'clear' words as I am in South America right now and we are flying from show to show. At first I thought that it might be better to cancel the tour but that wouldn't have been fair to our fans and Chris wouldn't have liked it either.
"I hope that all of Chris' friends will help his lovely mom and support her in these dark times. In the beginning of our friendship, she was like my own mom to me. After my return from South America I will surely support her, too. I hope that we can arrange a big show for Chris with a couple of friends to give him a special farewell and to make some money for his mother!
"Hey, Chris, you created music history. R.I.P.!"
REVOLTING - Night Of The Horrid
Klasický "Rogga" Johansson a jeho user-friendly death metal. Letos sice nemá oslnivou formu (viz slabší PAGANIZER), ale stále je to se ctí. Minulá deska byla lepší, ale i tady si skalní fanoušek najde to své. Hned po prvním poslechu vidíte všechny karty.
50M ZNAK - Nadechnout se
Trochu emařiny, trochu punkrocku a špetka indie melancholie. KOVADLINA řiznutá CARCIO RADIO. Ve výsledku celkem pozitivní vibe. Nová kapela se staronovými tvářemi a Banánem u mikrofonu. Hardcorovější MŇÁGA? Možná.
HIDDEN MOTHERS - Erosion / Avulsion
Tahle britská parta si prostě musí vybrat co chce. Koncept, ve kterém střídáte mělký emotivní rock a temnou post metalovou vlnu šilhající po blackaze v konečném důsledku působí jako zmatlaný dort od Pejska a Kočičky.
DEVIN TOWNSEND - PowerNerd
Nesúhlasím úplne s kolegom Shnoffom, že „PowerNerd“ je „ezo“. Devinovej potrhlosti je v textoch síce dosť, no v prvom rade ide o priamočiary prog’n'roll, ktorý strhne a baví od začiatku až do konca. Ad koniec: na „Ruby Quaker“ sa už so Shnoffom zhodneme.
DEVIN TOWNSEND - PowerNerd
Devinovu sólovou tvorbu buď milujete nebo je vám lhostejná. Nenávidět Devina nějak nelze. PowerNerd je asi očekávatelný, vrstevnatý ezo prog opus, který potěšil, ale nijak mě na lopatky nepoložil. Kromě songu "Ruby Quaker" ovšem. To je šleha jako kráva.
DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER - Die Mutter des Teufels
Hvězda za rok třicetiletých Jezdců jakoby po druhém dechu na albu "Der Rote Reiter" (2017) znovu začínala blednout. Po ukrutné nudě z divného alba "The Divine Horsemen" (2021) je toto EP už druhou studiovou nahrávkou, ale stále se neděje nic vzrušujícího.
VALKAYA - Immortal
Finský prog-power metal, který vykresluje kouzelné melodie a nápadité kytarové a hlavně klávesové instrumentální variace. Jde o one-man projekt, to je i kámen úrazu, nevýrazný zpěv spíš ruší a syntetické bicí také nic moc. Škoda, jinak super poslech.