Agent Orange is the third studio album by German thrash metal band Sodom, released on 1 June 1989 by SPV/Steamhammer. It was their last album with guitarist Frank Blackfire (who would later join Kreator) until his return to the band in 2018. The lyrical content delves deeply into Tom Angelripper's fascination with the Vietnam War, with a song dedicated to the ground assault aircraft AC-47 as well as the Agent Orange defoliant-inspired title-track. It was their first album to enter the German album charts where it reached number 36. Agent Orange sold 100,000 copies in Germany alone[1] and marked the commercial break through for the band. The song "Ausgebombt" was released on the EP Ausgebombt with German lyrics.
The album's liner notes carry the message: "This album is dedicated to all people – soldiers and civilians – who died by senseless aggressions of wars all over the world."
In March 2010, Agent Orange was re-released in a digipak with bonus tracks and liner notes containing lyrics and rare photos.[2][3]
Music
The musical style on Agent Orange has been characterized as "stand[ing] right at the devil's crossroads of thrash and death metal." The album's production is considered to be "fuller [and] heavier" than that of its predecessor, Persecution Mania.[4]Screen Rant said: "Each track on Agent Orange flows with equal parts punk, and military bombast, all joining forces to create a cohesive whole that rocks from start-to-finish, without a single bum note in between." The influence of hard-core punk band Discharge has been observed on the album.[5]
Artwork
Matthew Thomas of Screen Rant said that the album's cover artwork "screams a classic - like Doom Guy and a baddie from Half-Life 2 have joined forces to blow up planet earth."[6]
In 2005, Agent Orange was ranked number 299 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.[9] In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked Agent Orange as 63rd on their list of 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time'.[10]
Thom Jurek of AllMusic said Agent Orange was an improvement over Persecution Mania, and argued that it was the band's definitive album. He wrote: "The songwriting is tighter, the dynamics more elaborate, and everyone carries equal weight -- it would be the very last time this would happen with Sodom on record." He named "Exhibition Bout," "Incest" and "Baptism of Fire" as the album's strongest tracks.[4]
In 2025, Matthew Thomas of Screen Rant said the album was "perhaps one of the most economical, stripped down thrash recordings of its time."[11]
Track listing
All music is composed by Chris Witchhunter, Frank Blackfire and Tom Angelripper, except where noted.
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