SODOM's TOM ANGELRIPPER Laments High Cost Of Playing Shows In U.S.: 'It's Very Expensive'

In a new interview with This Day In Metal, bassist/vocalist Thomas "Angelripper" Such of German thrash metal veterans SODOM once again discussed his decision to cut down on the band's touring activities for the foreseeable future. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I have two kids. My daughter is 31, and my son is 28. So now I could spend more time with them and doing other things. I'm gonna do the re-releases for BMG. I also do some other things. I start writing new lyrics. I have new ideas for new songs already. You never can stop it. The only thing I stop is touring and all that stuff."

Tom went on to say that "it's a shame" he and his bandmates have not done any touring in support of their latest album, 2025's "The Arsonist".

"To make this decision to stop is always uncomfortable," Tom explained. "It's never a good time to stop. But nowadays, I enjoy my free time. I enjoy doing other things, like hunting and other stuff that I'm gonna do. And I don't wanna set up any time schedule for the next [live show] I wanna do. Just being on tour, playing festivals and shows, it's where the money's coming from.

"I know that we are gonna lose a lot of money because [we are not playing] all the festivals — just in Germany, we have 50 festivals around —and I know we're gonna lose, I especially will lose a lot of money, but I don't care," he continued. "I'm 63 years old. I have to calm down a little bit doing other things. My doctor said, 'You're in a very good condition, but calm down a little bit. Do other things.' But I know being on stage, it's my life — it's the biggest part of my life. But I don't wanna waste so much time for traveling around. Sitting on airports and hotels, backstage. If you are at my age, you think about the next years, what you're gonna do."

Tom also addressed the fact that a lot of international musicians are canceling U.S. tours because they have decided that going through the complicated process of getting a U.S. artist visa may not be worth the financial and safety risks.

"Visa, especially to go to the U.S., America., it's so much paperwork to do," he explained. "And it's so hard to get to U.S., America, just for a couple of shows. And I don't wanna live in U.S. I just wanna make a couple of shows and go back home. I don't wanna stay there. But it doesn't matter. They don't take care. You have to do all the paperwork. And I remember the last shows in U.S., America was really hard. In the end, we go to the embassy, to Frnakfurt, get an interview, what they call, and then you get the stamp, and it's very expensive. It's $2,000 [for] each person to get the working papers — for the band and also for the crew as well. And they ask me, why you don't take the crew in America? Because we have our own crew for all equipment. So a band has to take its own crew, because every guitar is different, every guitar amp is different. It's very hard. But American bands come to Germany or Europe [and they] just need a passport. They don't need any visa stuff."

Asked if his break from touring is a "full retirement" or if he plans to eventually come out and play a few shows with SODOM, Tom said: "No, no, no. It's like [SLAYER's] Tom Araya. You remember when he stopped doing this, he talked about the same [thing]. He said, when [they] release a new album, [a] SLAYER album, they are touring worldwide. And he said, 'I've never been home and I never seen my kids growing up.' So that's the same. But nowadays they're gonna do a couple of shows with SLAYER, and [SLAYER guitarist] Kerry King and all the other bandmembers have other bands touring around.

"I don't think about it," Tom continued. "But I cannot tell my band we just do five shows in a year. It's not enough. You have to do every show you can get. That is very important. But now it's gone for a while, and I have no plans, what to do."

Regarding how he is spending his time nowadays, Tom said:  "I'm looking not so much TV. I've spent more time with the family. I've spent a lot of time in my hunting district. I'm living without any pressure. I remember last year we had so many shows, and the time schedule was packed with everything. And then I thought, I have to stop it now. I wanna get more to my hunting district, because I have to do my job there and everything. Sometimes I'm just doing nothing. I just sitting, drinking my coffee. Just relax. But if you are touring and all this stuff, you can't relax. You're always under pressure. It's really hard. But the other guys from the band, I see [SODOM guitarist] Frank Blackfire, he is pushing his own band, which is called FRANK BLACKFIRE. And [SODOM drummer] Toni [Merkel], my drummer, he's the best drummer in Germany. He gets so many other bands he's gonna play drums with. That is not a problem.

"But I don't have any plans [to go back to playing shows]," Tom added. "I don't wanna set myself under pressure when I tell the people I'm coming back next year for the festival season or whatever. I don't know. When I think I have to go [play some shows], I go. I call my booking agency, try to get shows, whatever. But if you wanna play next year, the summer festivals, we have to book [it] now. That is the thing. But I never mind."

Last May, Angelripper also publicly discussed his decision to cut down on SODOM's touring activities for the foreseeable future. Asked by Chaoszine if this was a "hard decision" to make at this point in SODOM's career, Tom said: "Yes, because when you make a break or you stop something, the time is always uncomfortable, I think. The record company, they told me, 'Oh, you release a new album. You have to go on tour. You have to play festivals.' I know. But it's my decision. I'm working for the whole production, I'm working for the promotion for the new album. That's not a problem. But I wanna stop touring for a while. I need more time for my family, for my hobbies, for my good old friends or time for myself."

Tom continued: "My doctor said, 'You are in very good condition for your age, but slow it down a little bit.' And I'm still working on the band; I'm still working for re-releases. I just wanna do more home office. But I have no plan to come back. I don't wanna have any pressure. When I say, 'Okay, I come back in April '27,' whatever, I put myself under pressure. I don't want [that]. Maybe — I don't know how long it takes. I will see what happens. I don't have any plans. But I'm sure I'm coming back one day."

Angelripper previously discussed SODOM's decision to take a break earlier in May 2025 in an interview with RapidMetalFire. He said at the time: "I think you know the story of Tom Araya. Maybe you heard something about it. I think he's got the same problems, like [issues with his] neck [when performing live]. He couldn't more headbang. I can headbang. It's not so massive… But that is not the reason why. The reason why is I want to spend more time with other things. I want to spend more time with my family. I need more time going for my hunting district. I want to spend time doing nothing.

"If you are a professional musician — I'm also the manager of the band — you are busy every day," Such explained. "There is no time to breathe. There is no time to relax. I like to spend the time on stage. I like to spend the time making music, but I hate wast[ing] time on airports or hotels.

"If you're getting [63 years old] like me, you say, 'Okay, I need money to make my [living] from [playing] music.' I know — money is a very important thing. But there is something you cannot buy with money: the freedom," Thomas added. "And that's what I told to my boys, to my group. I told them, I think two years ago, 'In this year, I wanna slow down the things a little bit,' because I can't do nothing, because I'm still working on re-releases. The only difference is I have my home office. That's the only thing. But I can tell you, I have no plan what to do. I have no plan how long I'm gonna rest. I have no plan when I restart the band, so I don't wanna live without any plans in the next times. I can't tell people I want to come back in '27 or '28, maybe '26 — I don't tell the people. When I think I wanna come back, I go."

Asked if SODOM is still "receiving booking requests" from promoters around the world, Thomas said: "I receive a lot of booking requests… I get some offers from this [and that] festival. I get some offers for making a tour with HEAVEN SHALL BURN. They were interested in maybe a SODOM tour. I get a thousand of requests [for] the 'Big Four' [of German thrash metal: KREATOR, DESTRUCTION, SODOM and TANKARD] worldwide. That is not a problem… People are still interested. It's not something bad because we have no success. I can book tours every day over the year, if I want. That is another thing. SODOM is still — we are still very much a success, I think. People are really interested in coming [to see us]… So that is not the problem. I know that people wanna see SODOM."

Elaborating on his reasons for taking a break from the road, Thomas said: "I love my fans, but I also love myself. I also love my family. I also love my old friends. Now it's time to stop [and] just [concentrate on] doing other things. That's very easy. I'm still healthy. I'm able to do it. I'm still creative. Maybe the day will come I don't know what to do, I'm not more creative, I cannot write lyrics, I cannot play bass. Then it's gone. It's just a break. But I don't know how long it takes."