Former Sodom Members Claim They Were Fired via Text Message
On Friday, Tom Angelripper (né Cherubsickle), Sodom’s only constant member and primary songwriter, announced that he was parting ways with guitarist Bernd “Bernemann” Kost and drummer Markus “Makka” Freiwald. Angelripper’s explanation for the split was basically a backhanded compliment, thanking Kost and Freiwald for their time with the band while also implying that they’d lost a necessary creative spark:
“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.”
Angelripper went on to say that the new Sodomites would be “totally motivated,” further suggesting that Kost and Freiwald were, y’know, not motivated.
Unsurprisingly, Kost and Freiwald are not thrilled with Angelripper’s statement, and have now released one of their own. In it, the duo counter that if anyone had a motivation problem, it was Angelripper, who allegedly “neglected” tour offers and fired his bandmates without even listening to the “lots of song ideas” the two of them demoed for a new album.
More insulting still, Kost and Freiwald allege that they were fired via WhatsApp Messenger, the most-preferred form of communication between drug dealers and their clients across the world:
“Tom has already pointed it out in his statement that in fact we have slightly drifted apart from each other. Indeed, our conceptions of respect and workload diverged even further. Also tour offers neglected by Tom disappointed us.
“After its overwhelming reactions, we were totally looking forward to creating a successor to ‘Decision Day’ and have already recorded lots of song ideas. Unfortunately, Tom did not share our enthusiasm; he terminated his cooperation with us via WhatsApp even without listening to any of the new material.
“Of course, it is not easy for us to leave Sodom — the band that have become such a huge part of our lives and that we totally identify with. But, we will not stop doing what we love — together we will found a new band and we will see a way forward.
“Within our hearts, we will remain Sodom even if Tom is not with us any longer.”
Hopefully, Angelripper owns the name ‘Sodom,’ so that the phrase “We will remain Sodom even if Tom is not with us any longer” never becomes literal, thereby giving us one of those dreaded two-bands-with-the-same-name scenarios. Beyond that, though, yeah. Good luck to these two. They should always remember that there are worse ways to be fired.
[via Blabbermouth]
