Metal Family Tree

This is a project aimed at making it easy to see who inspired the bands you love or even hate. For this I try not to use any influences that the band don’t claim themselves. There will be a focus on predecessors but successors will be added as they site the band. These trees become more and more interactive as new bands are added, allowing you to click any band that has a tree and jump to it.

We want our lists to be better. If you know something that belongs on this list, let us know. When in doubt we will leave it out, so we need reliable sources.

Sodom are one of the baggiest and most important of the German thrash scene. Their early stuff is considered an important part of the early rendition of black metal similar to bands like Venom and Hellhammer. The heart of the band has always been bassist/vocalist Tom Angelripper. Other members have been less consistent although many have contributed to writing while in the band. Members that have contributed to writing will be noted down below. Because many members have come and gone, Tom’s influences are the ones that shape the core of the band. There are several Sodom albums written entirely by Tom. Influences of other members would have only shaped a few albums at most.

Jimi Hendrix is easily one of the most influential guitarists of all time. Blackfire named him as one of his role models.

Frank Zappa’s band was a big influence in progressive circles. Blackfire names him as one of his role models and names Sheik Yerbouti as one of his favorite albums. — Frank Zappa’s band was a big influence in progressive circles. Blackfire names him as one of his role models and names *Sheik Yerbouti* as one of his favorite albums.

Pink Floyd are one of the most influential and well known processive rock bands. Blackfire named Wish You Were Here as one of his favorite albums. — Pink Floyd are one of the most influential and well known processive rock bands. Blackfire named *Wish You Were Here* as one of his favorite albums.

Carlos Santana has been a influential guitarist although to a lesser extent in metal. Blackfire names him as one of his roll models and his third album in his favorite’s list.

Jeff Beck was one of the most influential guitarists of the 60’s. Blackfire named Guitar Garage as a favorite album. — Jeff Beck was one of the most influential guitarists of the 60’s. Blackfire named *Guitar Garage* as a favorite album.

Deep Purple are a very influential hard rock / early heavy metal band. Blackfire said Ritchie Blackmore was one of the people who first inspired him to play guitar.

Mahavishnu Orchestra was a jazz fusion / progressive rock band with influential jazz guitarist John McLaughlin. Blackfire named John as one of his role models and Apocalypse as a favorite album. — Mahavishnu Orchestra was a jazz fusion / progressive rock band with influential jazz guitarist John McLaughlin. Blackfire named John as one of his role models and *Apocalypse* as a favorite album.

Scorpions were the premier hard rock / early heavy metal band of Germany. They were an early influence on Blackfire.

Judas Priest are known as the metal gods and are possibly the most quintessential metal band. Blackfire said British Steel was his first metal album and names it as one of his favorites still.

Rainbow was the legendary band putting Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio together. Blackfire named rainbow as an influence.

Motorhead are heavy metal / hard rock legends. Tom named them as an influence and said the first line up was his favorite. Tom said that “Ace of Spades” is his all time favorite song. Blackfire also mentions Motorhead.

AC/DC are the quintessential hard rock band. They were the reason Blackfire first started playing guitar.

Saxon was one of the first of the NWOBHM. Blackfire named them as one of the bands he was into. Before joining Sodom he played in a cover band that played some Saxon.

Iron Maiden are one of the most influential metal bands. Blackfire named them as one of the bands he was into.

Steve Vai is a virtuoso guitarist considered many as one of the best. Blackfire named his Passion and Warfare as one of his favorite albums. — Steve Vai is a virtuoso guitarist considered many as one of the best. Blackfire named his *Passion and Warfare* as one of his favorite albums.

Venom are the fathers of extreme metal and were super important in inspiring the birth of more extreme genres. Tom named them as an influence and said that their first album was the most important album for him.

Tank were a NWOBHM band. Tom said he’s a big fan.

Anvil are a Canadian heavy metal band. Blackfire mentions being a fan.

Mercyful Fate were very technical cramming riff after amazing riff into their songs. Blackfire mentions being into them.

Slayer were one of the most aggressive thrash bands of their time. Tom stated he was a fan and Blackfire named Reign in Blood as one of his favorite albums. Blackfire became a fan of slayer after hearing Hell Awaits and it inspired him to start playing faster riffs. Bernemann said Reign in Blood was an important milestone for him.

Fates Warning are one of the pioneers of progressive metal. Bernemann said the album Parallels is very important to him. — Fates Warning are one of the pioneers of progressive metal. Bernemann said the album *Parallels* is very important to him.

Tom said when he started Sodom the goal was to be heavier than Venom.

Tom said that Uriah Heep were one of his favorite bands when he was a boy.

I am unsure of Witchhunter’s influences. He was the drummer from basically the beginning until 1992 and contributed to writing.

Blackfire was with the band for Pursicution Mania and Agent Orange. He has since returned to the band in 2018. He said with few exceptions when he was in the band he wrote the music and Tom wrote the lyrics. In a 2005 interview he named his role modals as Carlos Santana, Frank Zappa, John Mc Laughlin, and Jimi Hendrix. He says he also plays bass and drums… and digeridoo (lets hope he plays the latter on the new album.) When asked how he got in to metal he said “I started with Rock´n´Roll, then Hard Rock ala AC-DC, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Scorpions, then Judas Priest, Maiden, Anvil to Slayer. The first real Metal album I think was British Steel by Judas, before that AC-DC Highway to Hell”. Some of the early rock ‘n’ roll he listened to included Little Richard and Carl Perkins.

Michael Hoffmann of lesser known German thrash band Assassin played guitar and co-wrote on Better Off Dead. I’m unsure of his influences.

Andy Brings played guitar on Tapping the Vein and Get What You Deserve and wrote a few songs. I’m unsure of his influences.

Dirk Strahlmeier played guitar and co-wrote on Masquerade in Blood. I’m unsure of his influences.

Atomic Steif was the drummer on Get What You Deserve and played and co-wrote on Masquerade in Blood. I’m unsure of his influences.

Bobby Schottkowski was the drummer from 1997-2010 and co-wrote on Sodom and In War and Pieces. I’m unsure of his influences.

Bernd "Bernemann" Kost was guitarist from 1996-2018 and co-wrote on Sodom, In War and Pieces, and Decision Day. He said he grew up with glam rock with bands like Slade as a kid. He said Queen was also very important for him but now only listens to hard rock and metal. (I was only able to find a few influences he mentions by name.)

Markus "Makka" Freiwald played drums from 2010-2018 and co-wrote on Decision Day. I’m unsure of his influences.

Bands influenced by Sodom!

As this project advances, bands will be added here… there are many!

Black metal taken in a progressive direction

Sources:

https://distortedsoundmag.com/interview-tom-angelripper-sodom/
http://www.radiometal.com/article/tom-angelripper-sodom-soldier-of-the-peace,108563
https://www.metal-rules.com/interviews/sodom.htm
http://www.carnagedeathmetal.de/carnage/interviews/german/frankblackfire_2005.html
https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/former-kreator-sodom-guitarist-frank-blackfire-shredding-the-axe-new-video-posted-online/
https://darknessunseen.wordpress.com/2018/02/01/my-aim-is-to-stay-healthy-and-to-keep-my-whole-environment-positive-bernemann-ex-sodom/