S.O.D.

Reviewed:
- Speak English or Die (1985)
- Live at the Budokan (1992, live album)
- Bigger Than the Devil (1999)
- Rise of the Infidels (2007, EP)


SPEAK ENGLISH OR DIE          1985          (Megaforce)

- Standouts: ALL!!! Even the three second songs!

Even though I've been an avid Anthrax fan since I was about 15, I didn't even bother to listen to the Stormtroopers of Death until I was 24. 24! I had been aware of them since, well, not long after I first started listening to Anthrax. If you haven't heard of S.O.D., the reason Anthrax are relevant is because it was a side-project formed by Anthrax members Scott Ian (guitar) and Charlie Benante (drums). Turns out they still had studio time left over after the recording of Anthrax's Spreading the Disease, so Scott called up former Anthrax bassist Dan Lilker (who was, and still is in Nuclear Assault during this time) and the three wrote the songs that would eventually make up Speak English Or Die, the first S.O.D. record. Billy Milano, who was a bass player and apparently a bouncer at a club (not surprising considering his size) ended up doing vocals despite having no singing experience. To tell you the truth, this is one of the first reviews on this site, the reason being because I fucking love this album. The band's mascot, Sargent D and the song 'Sargent D. and the S.O.D.' was actually a character Scott Ian created and doodled during the recording of Spreading the Disease.

The whole album is tongue-in-cheek; ridiculous lyrics intended to annoy people, but not to be taken seriously either. 21 tracks, none of which clock over three minutes. In fact, some of them don't even reach ten seconds. One look at the cover and the song-titles however, and it's obvious that this is not a record to be taken seriously. Examples: 'Kill Yourself', 'Anti-Procrastination Song', 'Pussy Whipped', 'Pre-Menstrual Princess Blues', 'Douche Crew', 'The Ballad of Jimi Hendrix' (which clocks at six seconds) and 'Fuck the Middle East' - even though there was no way you'd ever see any of these tunes in the charts, Speak English or Die has still sold over a million copies (apparently) - and for good reason! It's often regarded as the album that put the whole 'crossover' malarkey on the radar. The other reason Scott Ian formed S.O.D., other than having extra studio time, was because he wanted to put some of his old hardcore punk influences in a record.

Crossover is defined as being a combination of hardcore punk and thrash metal, and while I think the latter definitely influences this album greater than the former, you can still trace hardcore in the music; Billy Milano's voice in particular. There are no melodic or progressive moments. The album is built around pure SPEED and shouting vocals. Most people will tell you Slayer were the fastest thrash band around in the 80's, yet none of their riffs, not even the one's found inReign in Blood are as fast as a the majority of Scott's riffs in this record. And this came before! There are some truly break-neck, tremolo picked open-string riffs scattered throughout Speak English or Die on tracks like 'Kill Yourself', 'Fist Banging Mania', 'Milano Mosh' and 'Chromatic Death'. Holy shit, 'Chromatic Death' is fucking fast! 'What's That Noise', which occurs halfway through the album is a random skit that see's Billy shouting and swearing his head off because of a scratching sound ruining the mix. Speaking of the mix, this album just so happens to have one of the HEAVIEST guitar tones of any album from the 80's decade. There's only really one guitar solo on the whole album, which is found at the end of 'United Forces' (ironically, it's played by Charlie Benante, NOT Scott Ian) - but that's not the point. Hardcore and punk music in general is built around short, snappy bursts of energy, and that's pretty much how this plays out - it's thrash with hardcore logic.

Buy this record. Buy it now, or Sargent D will kill your sister and mail the tits, beat you senseless and break out the whips and finally, pour petrol on your kids and throw a match! You have been warned. It's great fun as well as funny, it gets you psyched, it's HEAVY and nothing else sounds like it. It's also a near-perfect record for me in terms of thrash/hardcore. And considering it was written and recorded in almost no time at all makes it all the more impressive. Since it's release, it's been reissued a few times - I own the 30th Anniversary Edition which contains 14 bonus tracks, including live versions and studio numbers.
Adam's rating: 9.5/10

LIVE AT THE BUDOKAN           1992          (Megaforce)

Despite the title, this live album was not actually recorded in Japan at the Budokan venue but rather New York. Yeah, I don't really get it either, but then S.O.D. isn't exactly a serious project. Even though Speak English Or Die left a legacy being the influential crossover record it is, S.O.D. was never a full-time band. They literally played a few shows in '85, and that was it until this CD was recorded in '92, and even that was a one-off show. Obviously with only one album that clocks at just 25 minutes (or something), they couldn't exactly just play the whole album and leave it at that, their wouldn't have been enough material for a viable performance, so they threw in some new material ('Momo', 'Vitality', 'The Camel Boy') as well as some covers into the setlist (Fear's 'Livin' in the City', Ministry's 'Stigmata' and, interestingly, Nirvana's 'Territorial Pissings' - I used to perform that in a covers band I was in during my Sixth Form Years...). Even with the extra material, the disc still clocks at over 50 minutes long thanks to Billy Milano's often hilarious crowd banter. It really wouldn't be an S.O.D. show without it. The trilogy of 'The Ballad of Jimi Hendrix', 'The Ballad of Jim Morrison' and 'The Ballad of Freddy Mercury' is just funny as fuck. 'Course, this isn't exactly an epic Made in Japan-style performance full of extended, rockin' jams, rather just a side project that provided a good laugh and a break from their actual bands. Plus, the crowd must have been going fucking apeshit for blistering thrashers like 'Chromatic Death' and 'Milano Mosh', and the whole thing is just great fun to hear from start to finish, as was the debut album. 
Adam's rating: 8/10

BIGGER THAN THE DEVIL          1999          (Nuclear Blast)

- Standouts: 'The Crackhead Song', 'Charlie Don't Cheat', 'Monkeys Rule', 'King at the King/Evil is In', 'Black War', 'The Song That Don't Go Fast', 'Celtic Frosted Flakes', 'Fugu', 'Ballad of Michael H.', 'Ballad of Phil H.'. That may seem like a lot but there's like 25 songs in total.

Anthrax were at the lowest point in their career by this point. They'd just released Volume 8 - The Threat Is Real (a record I for one enjoyed), but the label it was released under went bankrupt almost immediately after it's release. This lead to the album disappearing off the radar pretty much instantly, and it made them next to no money. For Anthrax members Scott Ian and Charlie Benante, an S.O.D. reunion seemed like the perfect idea given the circumstances. Not only that, but Dan Lilker had just ended his death metal/grindcore band Brutal Truth. Even Billy Milano's band, M.O.D. had split-up two years prior to this reunion. It wasn't intended to be full-time - in fact, the band never was - but it did keep everyone busy for a few months at least.

Bigger than the Devil (featuring an album cover than mimics Iron Maiden's Number of the Beast) is a continuation of Speak English or Die, but there's definitely a spark missing somewhere. I guess if I had to narrow down what exactly went wrong, it's probably Billy's vocals. In the gap between Speak English or Die and this record, his voice has gotten way more metal, sounding more like Roots-era Max Cavelera (in my opinion) than he did back in the 80's. Maybe he sounds like this on all those 90's M.O.D. discs? The only albums I own and have heard him on are SEoD (obviously), M.O.D.'s U.S.A. for M.O.D. and the Live at the Budoken S.O.D. record, and he sounds way more hardcore than metal on any of them. I dunno, but a hardcore voice gives S.O.D. a funnier vibe than a metal voice, in my mind at least. Still, with titles like 'The Crackhead Song', 'Celtic Frosted Flakes', 'Monkeys Rule', 'Free Dirty Needles', 'Frankenstein and His Horse'...this is S.O.D. alright. And the three second songs are back, what with 'Fugu', 'Ballad of Michael H.', 'Ballad of Phil H.' and 'Dog On the Tracks'. And Benante's drumming on 'Charlie Don't Cheat' is insane! I guess I wasn't disappointed with Bigger than the Devil in the end. There's nothing inherently wrong with it as an S.O.D. record, it just isn't as good as Speak English or Die, the album it imitates. I managed to get my copy for a mere £1.99 thanks to being the only bidder in an eBay listing. 
Adam's rating: 7.5/10


RISE OF THE INFIDELS (EP)           2007          (Megaforce)
As a so-called 'extended EP', this final farewell S.O.D. release compiles 4 new songs and a live show onto one disc. The 4 new numbers are okay, but aren't funny aside from 'Java Amigo'. 'Stand Up and Fight' is just generic crossover, and the other 2 songs are covers. 'United and Strong' was originally an Agnostic Front track while 'Ready to Fight' a Negative Approach song. True, I do love Agnostic Front, but this cover isn't anything special, and I've never really listened to Negative Approach before. The live show, which was recorded at the Fenix in Seattle (when I'm not sure) is kinda disappointing too, mainly just because the recording quality is poor, crackly and sits closer to bootleg territory than it does a professional release. It is funny how they start with 'Ballad of Nirvana' and then pretend to end the show, before going into 'March of the S.O.D.', but the entire recording is inferior to the Live at the Budoken album. So yeah, Rise of the Infidels is kind of a poor excuse for a final S.O.D. release, and I'd only recommend it to die hard fans.
Adam's rating: 4/10

Check out: Anthrax, M.O.D.