The band is currently composed of Angelripper, guitarists Frank "Blackfire" Gosdzik (who was a member of Sodom from 1987 to 1989 and rejoined in 2018) and Yorck Segatz, and drummer Toni Merkel.

[6] Mike McPadden wrote that the most Venom-blackened of German "Three Kings" (Destruction and Kreator being the other two), Sodom further merged thrash and death metal into a "wicked and decadent sound.

[11][12][13] Sodom's original lineup consisted of Tom "Angelripper" Such, Bloody Monster, Arius "Blasphemer", and Aggressor.

Reportedly named in reference to the Venom song "One Thousand Days in Sodom", the band was initiated by Tom as a desperate attempt to get out of having to work in coal mines in his home town of Gelsenkirchen.

The band became a cohesive unit when Chris Witchhunter (Christian Dudek) from Essen replaced Bloody Monster on drums, bringing songwriting experience from his time in school, and spearheading the creativity process after Arius had been fired.

Taking inspiration from bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Motörhead, Venom, Kiss, Tank, Accept, Raven, Rainbow, AC/DC and UFO,[citation needed] the group continued as a three-piece in the Motörhead-fashion and released two demos which led to a record deal with Steamhammer.

[14] Michael "Destructor" Wulf was found as a replacement, after which the band went and recorded Obsessed by Cruelty (1986), their full-length debut featuring music that was mostly in the vein of In the Sign of Evil.

Wulf did not last in the band long, and later joined Kreator[14] (where he also only had a short stint; he died after a tragic motorcycle accident in 1993).

[14] The new lyrical approach and increased musicianship on the part of Frank gave the band great acclaim (as well as a gas-masked mascot Knarrenheinz, who appeared for the first time on Persecution Mania's cover).

It was this album that made Sodom famous, giving them worldwide critical acclaim, and secured their place alongside Kreator and Destruction as one of the great Teutonic thrash metal bands.

[14] With a new line-up, the album Better off Dead was released in 1990, and another grueling tour in Europe followed, playing with bands like Acid Drinkers, Destruction, Accu§er, Running Wild, Coroner, Tankard and Atrocity.

[5] This proved to be the last album with the drummer Witchhunter: He was kicked out of the band, and Atomic Steif formerly of both Holy Moses and Living Death became his replacement behind the drum kit.

[5] Get What You Deserve had an arguably grotesque album cover (featuring a dead man shot and lying in his bed with a woman tied-up nearby), and many fans did not take to the band's new direction.

This period also marked the beginning of less international visibility for the band as thrash lost its commercial viability for the remainder of the 1990s, due to the rising popularity of grunge and alternative rock.

Angelripper also started a solo career doing metal impressions of drinking songs, German Schlagers and even Christmas-type carols.

He was arrested and imprisoned on drug-related matters, and the band had since lost contact with him, until January 2011, when they learned that he had died in Düsseldorf.

This album marked the beginning of Sodom's return to thrash but was still more along the lines of a thrash-crossover sound and had much in common with bands like Suicidal Tendencies.

"[27] On 3 December 2017, Sodom announced that they would reunite with three of their former guitarists Josef "Grave Violator" Dominic (who performed on In the Sign of Evil), Frank "Blackfire" Gosdzik (Persecution Mania and Agent Orange) and Andy Brings (Tapping the Vein and Get What You Deserve) during their 35th anniversary show on 26 December in Bochum, Germany, marking the first time since Dominic, Gosdzik and Brings left the band in 1985, 1989, and 1995, respectively, that either guitarist had performed live with Sodom.

[37][38][39] On 13 January 2020, drummer Stefan "Husky" Hüskens departed the band due to "some changes at [his] full-time job, as well as a few other matters", and would not return in the future.

The set includes one song from each of the band's studio albums between Obsessed by Cruelty and Genesis XIX, in addition to "Sepulchral Voice" from the In the Sign of Evil EP.

[53] In the early days Sodom's lyrics focused on Satanic and occult themes, but since Persecution Mania, most of their songs have covered topics based on, inspired by, or related to the concepts of war, politics, fascism and world history.

Some of their songs have also covered topics dealing with religion, rape or sexual intercourse, almost often presented in a humorous light.

"[55] Sodom has been influenced or inspired by a variety of music, including AC/DC, Accept, Anvil, Jeff Beck, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Fates Warning, Jimi Hendrix, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Mercyful Fate, Motörhead, Pink Floyd, Queen, Rainbow, Santana, Saxon, Scorpions, Slade, Slayer, Tank, Thin Lizzy, Uriah Heep, Steve Vai, Venom and Frank Zappa.

[56][57] In turn, the band has influenced numerous heavy metal acts such as Burzum, Cannibal Corpse, Dark Tranquility, Deicide, Enslaved, Evildead, Evile, Incantation, Mayhem, Morbid Angel, Necrodeath, Necromantia, Obituary, Rotting Christ, Sepultura and Tsjuder.