Tom Angelripper

Last updated

Tom Angelripper
20180518 Gelsenkirchen RockHard Sodom 0391.jpg
Angelripper performing in 2018
Background information
Birth nameThomas Such
Also known as
  • Onkel Tom
  • Onkel Tom Angelripper
Born (1963-02-19) 19 February 1963 (age 61)
Gelsenkirchen, West Germany
Genres Thrash metal
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter
Instrument(s)Vocals, bass guitar
Years active1981–present

Thomas Such [1] (born 19 February 1963), known professionally as Tom Angelripper, is a German musician. He is the lead vocalist, bassist, main songwriter and only original remaining member of the thrash metal band Sodom and also a member of the bass guitar-focused side project Bassinvaders. He has also released solo albums under the name Onkel Tom. [1]

Contents

Biography

Angelripper in 2022 Sodom Metal Frenzy 2022 01.jpg
Angelripper in 2022

Thomas Such was born in Gelsenkirchen on 19 February 1963, from where he learned to play bass steadily whilst working in coal mines. He then went on, as Tom Angelripper, to be one of the founding members of the German thrash metal band Sodom. He originally started off as just the bassist, but ended up becoming the vocalist and has done both on every studio release.

In Sodom, Angelripper plays bass and sings. [2] Angelripper formed Sodom with guitarist Frank "Aggressor" Testegen and drummer Rainer "Bloody Monster" Focke in 1982, in a desperate bid to get out of work in the coal mines that the three had worked in.

Angelripper also founded a band called Onkel Tom Angelripper which plays metal versions of schlagers, drinking songs and Christmas carols. In addition, he worked with a side project of Sodom's touring guitarist Alex Kraft, called Desperados, which played spaghetti Western-themed heavy metal. The band later evolved independently under the name of Dezperadoz, but Angelripper still occasionally contributes.

He also plays in several other side projects, such as the German bands Bassinvaders and Die Knappen and has just guested on the brand new Warfare single the first for 27 years Cemetery Dirt (Plastic Head Music Download)

Discography

Studio albums:

Compilation albums:

With Dezperadoz

Studio albums:

With Bassinvaders

Studio albums:

With Sodom

Filmography

Actor

Writer

Second Unit or Assistant Director

Composer

Soundtrack

Self

Related Research Articles

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Sodom is a German thrash metal band from Gelsenkirchen, formed in 1981. They have gone through many lineup changes, with bassist/vocalist Tom Angelripper the only constant member. The band is currently composed of Angelripper, guitarists Frank "Blackfire" Gosdzik and Yorck Segatz, and drummer Toni Merkel. Sodom has been referred to as one of the "Big Four" of Teutonic thrash metal, along with Kreator, Destruction and Tankard. Sodom heavily influenced the German black metal scene, and is regarded as a pioneer of death metal. Mike McPadden wrote that the most Venom-blackened of German "Three Kings", Sodom further merged thrash and death metal into a "wicked and decadent sound".

<i>M-16</i> (album) 2001 studio album by Sodom

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<i>Agent Orange</i> (album) 1989 studio album by Sodom

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 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 and marked the commercial break through for the band. The song "Ausgebombt" was released on the EP Ausgebombt with German lyrics.

<i>Code Red</i> (Sodom album) 1999 studio album by Sodom

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<i>Obsessed by Cruelty</i> 1986 studio album by Sodom

Obsessed by Cruelty is the debut full-length studio album and the second release by German thrash metal band Sodom, released in 1986. Two different versions of the album exist, the European and the American, which were released by Steamhammer and Metal Blade Records.

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Better Off Dead is the fourth studio album by German thrash metal band Sodom, released on 1 October 1990 by Steamhammer/SPV. The song "The Saw Is the Law" in an altered version that was released on the EP The Saw Is the Law.

<i>Tapping the Vein</i> (album) 1992 studio album by Sodom

Tapping the Vein is the fifth studio album by German thrash metal band Sodom, released in August 1992 through Steamhammer/SPV. The album was recorded with producer Harris Johns at Dierks Studios in Cologne, Germany. The release marks the studio debut of guitarist Andy Brings and is the last album to feature original member Chris Witchhunter on drums.

<i>Get What You Deserve</i> 1994 studio album by Sodom

Get What You Deserve is the sixth studio album by German thrash metal band Sodom, released on 10 January 1994 via Steamhammer/SPV. This was the band's last album to feature guitarist Andy Brings, and their first release with drummer Guido "Atomic Steif" Richter as the replacement of founding member Christian "Witchhunter" Dudek. Get What You Deserve finds Sodom continuing their experimentation, although it bypasses the death metal sound of its predecessor Tapping the Vein in favor of a more crossover influenced approach, while still retaining their thrash metal sound.

<i>Masquerade in Blood</i> 1995 studio album by Sodom

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<i>Til Death Do Us Unite</i> 1997 studio album by Sodom

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<i>Marooned Live</i> 1994 live album by Sodom

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<i>Sodom</i> (album) 2006 studio album by Sodom

Sodom is the eleventh album by German thrash metal band Sodom, released on 21 April 2006. The first pressing was in a slipcase and includes a full-colour poster of the artwork. "The album is self-titled," Tom Angelripper explains, "because every band needs a self-titled album."

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Blackfire</span> German musician

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References

  1. 1 2 "Onkel Tom – Band". laut.de (in German). Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  2. Sodom Interview "I think that Slayer is the best band in the world, definitely."