Pictured is the artwork (by Andreas Marschall) for the upcoming SODOM release, The Final Sign Of Evil.

As previously reported, the release will feature re-recorded material from the group's classic first EP, In The Sign Of Evil. The new release, now called The Final Sign Of Evil, will also feature seven additional bonus tracks which were originally written during the In The Sign Of Evil era or earlier, but were never released the first time around. The album will also feature the return of the group's original drummer Chris "Witchhunter" Dudek and guitarist Josef "Peppi" Dominic (a.k.a. Grave Violator), who both performed on the original 1984 EP.

Final Sign Of Evil is being produced by Sodom's webmaster Toto, who had this to say regarding how he got involved on the production side:

"Peppi heard a demo I produced with a side project which was founded by me back in 2003. A friend of mine (Frank Hübner, he's with me in the project and his neighbor) gave it to him. And after all they decided not to work with Harris Johns or Andy Sneap, they decided to run a little test with me. So in spring 2006 we started a two and a half week pre-production. They were happy with the sound and after four weeks I got the call: You're the one. Of course, that was a dream! In the following month I started to watch nearly every rehearsal, learned the songs and rehearsed with Chris, when Peppi was on holiday. A real big thing for an old mid-eighties sodom fan! But believe me, It's real hard work!

Peppi and me are working on the guitars and it's a hard job for him. The last time he has been in a studio was for the recordings in 1984 for the Sign of Evil. For Chris it was similar. Chris made his last recordings in 1994 for a project called WITCHHUNTER which never been released. But both have done their very best. It's obviously that both had a hard time during the recordings.

I really appreciate the chance to do this one and I enjoy everything that happens around me during this period! New fantastic friendships have been made and mostly we had (and still have) a good time doing this, even though it's really hard work for all! Of course, the sound differs from the first album and some will like it, other may hate it (I've heard things like "don't rape a classic"), I don't know. But the most important thing to me is, that the guys are happy with the result. Having fun is - in my opinion - the first directive in our scene. Or it should be one of the most important things. Keep a smile and bang that head that doesn't bang!"

Nexus Japan has a July 25th street date set for The Final Sign Of Evil. The release, which is expected to be bumped to late summer, will contain an exclusive bonus track. Expect SPV to release the album in late summer as well.