STORMBREEDERS OF DEATH, a tribute to the politically incorrect mid-1980s project STORMTROOPERS OF DEATH (S.O.D.), is set to perform at this year’s Milwaukee Metal Fest on Friday, May 16, at The Rave / Eagles Club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
This special STORMBREEDERS OF DEATH lineup will feature two original STORMTROOPERS OF DEATH members—guitarist Scott Ian and bassist Danny Lilker—alongside HATEBREED frontman Jamey Jasta on vocals and Scott‘s son, Revel Ian, on drums.
STORMTROOPERS OF DEATH was a groundbreaking crossover thrash band formed in 1985 by ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian, bassist Danny Lilker, drummer Charlie Benante, and vocalist Billy Milano. The band emerged as a side project during the recording sessions for ANTHRAX’s Spreading the Disease album, with Ian and Lilker writing a batch of fast, aggressive, and politically incorrect songs that combined hardcore punk energy with thrash metal intensity.
Their debut album, Speak English or Die (1985), became a cult classic, influencing both the hardcore and thrash metal scenes with its short, blistering songs, satirical lyrics, and raw aggression. Tracks like “March of the S.O.D.,” “Milano Mosh,” and “United Forces” helped define the crossover thrash genre.
In a recent interview with Screamer Magazine, Lilker discussed how S.O.D. stirred controversy even back in the day due to the intentionally provocative lyrics of songs like “Speak English Or Die” and “F**k The Middle East.”
”There were some people that we did wanna piss off a little bit, but if you couldn’t tell that we were kind of being just obnoxious and provocative… People weren’t looking at the big picture,” he said. “We also had a song on the record about being hung over and having no milk in the fridge. And you had to step out a little bit. And by the way, ‘F**k The Middle East’ is still relevant. And we wrote a song about a guy in a movie with impossibly long fingers who would f**king slice your throat off with. So, sure, calling the record ‘Speak English Or Die’ — and we’re not gonna get into the cancel culture conversation, by the way. I know that [the S.O.D. album] couldn’t happen today, and we all know that. But let’s just say that we knew what we were doing. I don’t regret any of it. I know some people might’ve thought, ‘That’s over the line,’ but then we weren’t really like that. We were just being perhaps a tiny bit reckless, but S.O.D. was about the music. The lyrics were just kind of like — I was gonna say icing on the cake, but it’s more like salt. I don’t know.”
Source: metaladdicts.com
