Stormtroopers of Death
Background information
Origin	New York, United States
Genre(s)	Crossover thrash Thrash metal Hardcore punk
Years active	1985- Present
Label(s)	Megaforce Records Nuclear Blast
Website	sgt-d.com
Members
Scott Ian Dan Lilker Charlie Benante Billy Milano

Stormtroopers of Death, more commonly known as S.O.D., formed in New York in 1985. They are commonly credited as being among the first bands to fuse hardcore punk with thrash metal into a new sound dubbed crossover thrash. They have also been the target of controversy due to their politically-incorrect lyrics, in particular a track named "Speak English or Die". The British band Concrete Sox responded to the aforementioned song with a parody entitled "Speak Siberian or Die." Not all found them offensive, however; in 2000, the Japanese band Yellow machinegun recorded their own version of "Speak English or Die" on a tribute album titled "Speak Japanese or Die". Finally, S.O.D. member Dan Lilker has stated: "The lyrics were never intended to be serious, just to piss people off."^[1] Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... NY redirects here. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Crossover Thrash was a term used in the 1980s to describe the first wave of bands that mixed hardcore punk (or more specifically the part of it called thrashcore) and thrash metal. ... Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music, one of the extreme metal subgenres that is characterised by its signature high speed and aggression. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Year 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar). ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Megaforce Records has been the record label for several bands in the heavy metal and/or thrash genres and also rock genres, including Metallica, Testament (band), Anthrax, S.O.D., Warren Haynes, The Disco Biscuits, and have recently signed with Ministry, Bad Brains, Rose Hill Drive, and Mushroomhead, among others. ... Nuclear Blast is an independent record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. ... Scott Ian Rosenfeld (born December 31, 1963) is the rhythm guitarist for the metal band Anthrax who uses the stage name Scott Not Ian. ... Dan Lilker is a bass player from the USA. He played in thrash metal bands Nuclear Assault, Brutal Truth, Anthrax, as well as the crossover band Stormtroopers of Death. ... Charlie Benante (born 27 November 1963, in The Bronx, New York) is the drummer/guitarist for the heavy metal band, Anthrax. ... Billy Milano was the singer of M.O.D. and the thrash / hardcore band Stormtroopers of Death. ... NY redirects here. ... Year 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar). ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music, one of the extreme metal subgenres that is characterised by its signature high speed and aggression. ... Crossover Thrash was a term used in the 1980s to describe the first wave of bands that mixed hardcore punk (or more specifically the part of it called thrashcore) and thrash metal. ... Speak English or Die is a Crossover thrash album by Stormtroopers of Death (S.O.D.). It was released in 1985 and again on the Megaforce label in August 1995. ... Concrete Sox were a mid 80s British crust punk band largely seen as an early style crossover thrash band who incorporated many thrash metal style riffs on their earlier albums. ... Yellow Machinegun is an all girl hardcore / metal act from Osaka, Japan. ...

Biography

After finishing his guitar tracks on the Anthrax album Spreading the Disease, Scott Ian would draw pictures of the face of a character known as "Sargent D". The pictures would be accompanied by slogans such as "I'm not racist, I hate everyone equally, so fuck you" and "Speak English or Die", and Ian would write lyrics about this character. He decided to form a hardcore band based on Sargent D, so he recruited Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante, ex-Anthrax bassist Dan Lilker and Psychos bassist Billy Milano. Spreading the Disease is the second album by the band Anthrax and the first with vocalist Joey Belladonna and bassist Frank Bello. ... Scott Ian Rosenfeld (born December 31, 1963) is the rhythm guitarist for the metal band Anthrax who uses the stage name Scott Not Ian. ... A drummer in Action A drummer is a person who plays the drums, particularly the drum kit, marching percussion, or hand drums. ... Charlie Benante (born 27 November 1963, in The Bronx, New York) is the drummer/guitarist for the heavy metal band, Anthrax. ... ||/ | @___oo / / / (__,,,,| ) /^) ^/ _) ) /^/ _) ) _ / / _) / )// || | )_) < > |(,,) )__) || / )___) | ____( )___) )___ ______(_______;;; __;;; A bassist is not a musician, so much as a guy or girl trying to play an instrument with four strings and a long neck. ... Dan Lilker is a bass player from the USA. He played in thrash metal bands Nuclear Assault, Brutal Truth, Anthrax, as well as the crossover band Stormtroopers of Death. ... ||/ | @___oo / / / (__,,,,| ) /^) ^/ _) ) /^/ _) ) _ / / _) / )// || | )_) < > |(,,) )__) || / )___) | ____( )___) )___ ______(_______;;; __;;; A bassist is not a musician, so much as a guy or girl trying to play an instrument with four strings and a long neck. ... Billy Milano was the singer of M.O.D. and the thrash / hardcore band Stormtroopers of Death. ...

They recorded a 63-song demo called Crab Society North and set to work on an album for Johnny Zazula's Megaforce Records. The record, entitled Speak English or Die, was recorded and mixed over three days and has since been recognised as a landmark recording. They toured the record in 1985 supporting, amongst others, Motörhead and The Plasmatics. Their planned follow-up, "USA For S.O.D.", was never recorded. Crab Society North is a demo by American Crossover thrash band Stormtroopers of Death. ... Megaforce Records has been the record label for several bands in the heavy metal and/or thrash genres and also rock genres, including Metallica, Testament (band), Anthrax, S.O.D., Warren Haynes, The Disco Biscuits, and have recently signed with Ministry, Bad Brains, Rose Hill Drive, and Mushroomhead, among others. ... Speak English or Die is a Crossover thrash album by Stormtroopers of Death (S.O.D.). It was released in 1985 and again on the Megaforce label in August 1995. ... Year 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar). ... Motörhead are a Grammy Award-winning British heavy metal band formed in 1975 by bassist, singer and songwriter Lemmy (real name Ian Kilmister), who has remained the sole constant member. ... The Plasmatics were an American punk band, formed by Yale graduate and radical anti-artist Rod Swenson, around the late Wendy O. Williams. ...

After the tour finished, Lilker carried on with the band Nuclear Assault while Benante and Ian carried on with Anthrax and Milano formed the spin-off band Method of Destruction, more popularly known as M.O.D. The first album by M.O.D., USA for M.O.D., featured many lyrics written by Scott Ian, as well as an altered version of "Aren't You Hungry", an unrecorded S.O.D. song from the 1985 tour.^[2] Nuclear Assault is a thrash metal band formed in 1984. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... U.S.A. for M.O.D. is the debut full-length studio album from American crossover thrash band, M.O.D.. It was released in 1987 on Megaforce Records. ...

S.O.D. would reform for a one-off gig in New York City in 1992, released as the live album Live at Budokan. The record featured most of the studio album, a few songs from the demo and covers of Ministry, Nirvana and American hardcore punk band Fear. Live at Budokan is a live album released by American Hardcore/Thrash Metal band Stormtroopers of Death. ... Ministry is an American industrial metal band founded by front-man by Al Jourgensen in 1981. ... Nirvana was an American rock band that formed in Aberdeen, Washington. ... Fear is a punk band from Los Angeles, California that formed in 1977 and still performs. ...

In 1997 they played their first European gig at the With Full Force festival in Germany,^[3] and in 1999 the second studio album was released. Bigger Than the Devil, with its hardcore metal and black humor, was welcomed by fans and the band toured again in the late 90s. Bigger Than the Devil also featured the original S.O.D. version of Aren't You Hungry. World map showing the location of Europe. ... With Full Force is a metal, hardcore and punk festival held annually in Löbnitz near Leipzig, Germany since 1994. ... Year 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar). ... Bigger than the Devil is the third and most recent album released by heavy metal band Stormtroopers of Death (S.O.D.). The album was released in May 1999 on the Nuclear Blast label. ... Black comedy, also known as black humor, is a subgenre of comedy and satire that deals with serious subjects &#8211; death, divorce, drug abuse, et cetera in a humorous manner. ...

In 2001 the DVD/video Speak English or Live was released. It added to the original "Live at Budokan" video by including a gig from a German metal festival and footage of the band recording overdubs for live tracks recorded in Japan. These would be included on the platinum reissue of the debut, along with two new studio tracks, to celebrate sales of one million for Speak English or Die. DVD (Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc) is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for data storage, including movies with high video and sound quality. ...

In 2002 the tour movie Kill Yourself: The Movie was released on DVD. Metal magazines reported in 2003 that the band was over due to disagreements between Scott Ian and Billy Milano. Benante and Ian went back to Anthrax, Milano carried on with M.O.D., and Lilker was involved with multiple other bands. 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

An interesting note of the band is that they release an album every seven years, and because of this, some fans were expecting a release in 2006. In 2005, Megaforce Records released a new S.O.D. live DVD, 20 Years of Dysfunction, and the label's website claimed that a new S.O.D. CD "will be forthcoming in the winter of 2005".^[4] That, coupled with Heather Lilker's statement that S.O.D. are under contract by Nuclear Blast to release one more album,^[5] it does appear that there will be a third record at some point. See also: 2005 in music (UK) Musical groups established in 2005 Record labels established in 2005 2000s in music. ...

Final release

There is an extended EP of live material and unreleased songs -- tentatively called Rise Of The Infidels -- due out on August 21st on Megaforce Records. According to singer Milano "(the EP) will finally be the last of S.O.D.", laying to rest rumours of a S.O.D. re-union. The EP will contain four unreleased tracks; Stand Up And Fight, Java Amigo, United And Strong and Ready To Fight. Three of these tracks have, however, been released previously; Stand Up And Fight and Java Amigo were released on the New York's Hardest Vol. 3 compilation, whereas United And Strong can be found on the japanese version of Live At Budokan. To further complicate matters, Stand Up And Fight was called Pathmark Song on the New York compilation. Ready To Fight is a cover song originally by Negative Approach. EP can stand for: EP is the IATA code for Iran Aseman Airlines Extended play, a music recording (usually consisting of several tracks, but shorter than a typical album) European Parliament, the parliamentary body of the European Union Evolutionary psychology, a belief that psychology can be better understood in light... Negative Approach (commonly called “NA”) were one of the first hardcore punk bands. ...

Members

• Scott Ian - guitars
• Dan Lilker - bass
• Charlie Benante - drums
• Billy Milano - vocals

Scott Ian Rosenfeld (born December 31, 1963) is the rhythm guitarist for the metal band Anthrax who uses the stage name Scott Not Ian. ... Dan Lilker is a bass player from the USA. He played in thrash metal bands Nuclear Assault, Brutal Truth, Anthrax, as well as the crossover band Stormtroopers of Death. ... Charlie Benante (born 27 November 1963, in The Bronx, New York) is the drummer/guitarist for the heavy metal band, Anthrax. ... Billy Milano was the singer of M.O.D. and the thrash / hardcore band Stormtroopers of Death. ...

Discography

Albums

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1488x1498, 512 KB) Summary Albumcover of Speak English or Die by the SOD. Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Year 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar). ... Speak English or Die is a Crossover thrash album by Stormtroopers of Death (S.O.D.). It was released in 1985 and again on the Megaforce label in August 1995. ... Megaforce Records has been the record label for several bands in the heavy metal and/or thrash genres and also rock genres, including Metallica, Testament (band), Anthrax, S.O.D., Warren Haynes, The Disco Biscuits, and have recently signed with Ministry, Bad Brains, Rose Hill Drive, and Mushroomhead, among others. ... Image File history File links SOD-LiveAtBudokan. ... October 24 is the 297th day of the year (298th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar). ... Live at Budokan is a live album released by American Hardcore/Thrash Metal band Stormtroopers of Death. ... Megaforce Records has been the record label for several bands in the heavy metal and/or thrash genres and also rock genres, including Metallica, Testament (band), Anthrax, S.O.D., Warren Haynes, The Disco Biscuits, and have recently signed with Ministry, Bad Brains, Rose Hill Drive, and Mushroomhead, among others. ... Image File history File links Biggerthanthedevil. ... is the 142nd day of the year (143rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar). ... Bigger than the Devil is the third and most recent album released by heavy metal band Stormtroopers of Death (S.O.D.). The album was released in May 1999 on the Nuclear Blast label. ... Nuclear Blast is an independent record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. ...

Videos

Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 268th day of the year (269th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... July 26 is the 207th day of the year (208th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

1. ^ Dan Lilker. Speak English or Live [DVD]. Nuclear Blast Records.
2. ^ Interview with Billy Milano for www.metal-rules.com conducted by David Lee and Jinny Jerome. Retrieved on 2006-12-21.
3. ^ Interview with Billy Milano conducted by Sjouke Bakker. Retrieved on 2006-12-21.
4. ^ Megaforce Records. Retrieved on 2006-12-21.
5. ^ ANTHRAX: “Behind the Music” Lies a Very Ugly Mess Indeed!. Retrieved on 2006-12-21.

For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Official S.O.D. Website
• Billy Milano Official Website (under construction)
• The official S.O.D. & M.O.D. fansite