#367 S.O.D. — Speak English or Die: The Crossover Thrash Album That Started It All

In early July 1985, ¾ (or 75%) of the “Fistful of Metal” era of Anthrax (Charlie Benante, Scott Ian, and Dan Lilker) joined Billy Milano in the studio to form the legendary crossover thrash band S.O.D. (aka STORMTROOPERS OF DEATH) and in less than one week, recorded and mixed one of the most notoriously hilarious thrash albums of all time, SPEAK ENGLISH OR DIE.

In the highly unlikely event that you’re thinking “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of S.O.D…”, just think back to the good old days of Headbangers Ball in the late 80’s, with all of the vintage black and white film footage of trains slamming into each other head on, rodeos gone wrong, cars crashing, and failed BMX stunts. The bumper music that was the soundtrack to all of that visual chaos was actually from SPEAK ENGLISH OR DIE.

If you’re going to Rocklahoma this year, please be sure to stop by Camp Corruption and say “High” for us, get fully and properly relaxed, and then prepare to “blast ABBA in the middle of the night” before you JOIN US for a walk down metal memory lane as we celebrate one of the finest, rawest, and funniest albums in thrash metal history as we attempt to SPEAK ENGLISH OR DIE talking about STORMTROOPERS OF DEATH.

Visit www.metalnerdery.com/podcast for more on this episode

Help Support Metal Nerdery https://www.patreon.com/metalnerderypodcast

Leave us a Voicemail to be played on a future episode: 980-666-8182

Metal Nerdery Tees and Hoodies – metalnerdery.com/merch and kindly leave us a review and/or rating on your favorite Podcast app

Follow us on the Socials:

Facebook - Instagram - TikTok

Email: metalnerdery@gmail.com

Can’t be LOUD Enough Playlist on Spotify

Metal Nerdery Munchies on YouTube @metalnerderypodcast

(00:01): “Pepper cream gravy…it’s perfect (on a steak).” / “A little salt, a little pepper, a little garlic (on a steak) …”/ “You can take the garlic and shove it in the steak before you grill it…”/

“I love food…I think food is my new porn…the other day I had a weird craving for mashed potatoes and gravy…brown gravy.”/ “Let’s do halfsies…in the interest of health…”/ #onmicburp / “That was wet…that might have had a little gravy in there…” /

“Speaking of which, we didn’t see any party gravy the other night at the show…that’s a big difference from the old days…”/

Remember to keep your pregaming to a minimum before the show so you can actually enjoy (and remember) the show the next day.

***WARNING: #listenerdiscretionisadvised ***

(03:45): “You know what I’d like to do? I’d like to talk about cocaine enemas and blasting #ABBA in the middle of the night…” Big thanks to American Dave for the soundbite of the year!!! / #inthemiddleofthenight

***WELCOME BACK TO THE METAL NERDERY PODCAST IN THE BUNKERPOON CENTER FOR METAL EXCELLENCE!!!***

“It’s a Friday night…we’re all dressed up appropriately for a metal Friday…it’s like a combination of Headbanger’s Ball and Friday Night Videos wrapped into one, but it’s a podcast.”

JOIN US on any and/or all of the following platforms and/or modes of social media and communication:

***PATREON US at patreon.com/metalnerderypodcast ***

***SOCIAL MEDIA US at #metalnerderypodcast on #YouTube #Instagram #Facebook & #TikTok ***

***EMAIL US at metalnerdery@gmail.com ***

***VOICEMAIL US at 980-666-8182!!!***

“Hey metal motherfuckers!”

Marty Fucking Moose is headed to #Rocklahoma so be sure to be on the lookout for him there at Camp Corruption!!! #CampCorruption at #Rocklahoma

“We need y’all to help us out and send Russell, Billiam, and Matthew to Rocklahoma so we can put pasties on breastesses…”

***Check out our Metallica Covers episode…*** (May 10, 2024)

“Did you guys know there’s a Fight Fire With Fire by Kansas? Obviously, it’s NOT the same one…”/ #Vader FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE (Necropolis – 2009)

(14:30): #TheDocket METAL NERDERY PODCAST PRESENTS: STORMTROOPERS OF DEATH (S.O.D.) – SPEAK ENGLISH OR DIE

#SOD #StormtroopersOfDeath #SpeakEnglishOrDie /

“To be fair, American Dave was referring to an older episode that we did (and we recommend highly that you DO NOT go back and listen to it!) …it was during COVID, it was before Russ…Adam was remote and we were watching him on a screen…it was very surreal.”/ “The funniest thing about this record…other than everything…”/

Recorded July 2-5, 1985 /

“It’s Spreading The Disease but less produced…that’s what Speak English or Die is…”/

“We were reading the lyrics, real time, as we were listening to the songs (on the prior S.O.D. episode) …”

“(Sargent D): Like Captain America…but way better.”

“(Sargent D) was like the dude in Full Metal Jacket but with a cigar in his mouth…or a blunt…or bolth.”

“We said it at the same time…let’s fist bump, dude…it’s like two towers at the same time…”/

#alwaysremember #neverforget / “21 songs, 28 minutes…”/

“Before we start, I’ve gotta ask: how much relaxers do y’all think they did when S.O.D. made Speak English or Die?” / “That’s where the fun is…”

(23:41): MARCH OF THE S.O.D.

“One of the best openers EVER…the bass makes it…if you don’t have that ugly bass, it’s just not there…”/

“That sound (on Speak English or Die) should have been the sound on Fistful of Metal…”

SARGENT D AND THE S.O.D.

“This is ’85, right? It don’t sound like ’85…it doesn’t have the weird echo…this sounds like it could have come out last week…”

(27:19): “Alright…this one…this one…this is great…” /

#LilburnDaze #PoonMobile / #TheOzone /

“This is getting weirdly darker by the minute…I’m getting more and more uncomfortable as I listen to this…”

Get ready for a nostalgic edition of #RussellsReflections regarding a local band full of teenagers covering the song “Kill Yourself” by S.O.D. at a local, small-town arts & crafts festival in Lilburn, Georgia.

(31:20): KILL YOURSELF /

“Can you do…the MILANO MOSH /

“Think Headbanger’s Ball and the 2 trains colliding into each other…”/

“If you’re in America, you must…SPEAK ENGLISH OR DIE” /

“That’s death metal before death metal was death metal…”/

“(Dan Lilker’s) bass only makes everything else sound heavier…”/

#dogbarkingASMR / ***Check out the #Doomsicle version of this next one…*** /

UNITED FORCES

“Black, White, Yellow, and Red…”

(40:27): CHROMATIC DEATH

“Every time, it’s (the sound of) Headbanger’s Ball, it just takes me back…even before I heard the album, I heard this first (on Headbanger’s Ball) …”/

PI ALPHA NU

“This is a song about fraternities and sororities and such…”

(aka “Pie Avenue…”)

“Wait a minute…where’s McMahon?”

(42:22): “This is my favorite song on the album…” ANTI-PROCRASTINATION SONG /

WHAT’S THAT NOISE? “Hey Alex, WTF is that noise?” /

“This album captures the fun and the youth that thrash used to be…”

“It was a joke…and then it just blew up…just like this podcast…” /

FREDDY KRUEGER #NightmareOnElmStreet /“It’s almost a Slayer riff…it’s like a happy Slayer riff…”/ #FistfulOfSteel /

MILK

“Some milk and a Pepsi, right? All I wanted was one Pepsi…and some milk.”

“Milk was the first time I ever heard blast beats…”/ #blastbeats #extremedrumming

(49:23): “Alright…this one…is REALLY funny…” / PRE-MENSTRUAL PRINCESS BLUES “I’m passing clots the size of basketballs…”/

A clear definition of what it means to be “pussy whipped”

“(Pussy) is like Mexican food: even when it’s not great, it’s still pretty good…”

PUSSY WHIPPED /

“This one was always kinda funny to me…”

FIST BANGING MANIA

“You’ve gotta bang fists, dude…fist banging mania…it’s not June…”

“Is this the one with the weird Tom Araya type scream at the end? No, it’s the Douche Crew where that happens…”

(55:05): NOTE: Spirit In The Sky was written and performed by Norman Greenbaum #RussellsRingtoneASMR /

“The weird thing about (No Turning Back) is that No Turning Back sounds like a ‘serious’ song…” NO TURNING BACK

“It’s a global warming song…they were way ahead of their time…”

“I feel like every bass should have that gnarly, distorted attitude to it…”/

FUCK THE MIDDLE EAST (“Done and done”) /

DOUCHE CREW (“This is it…the scream.”)

“That sounds like Among The Living Anthrax right there…”

Remember, “mosh part equals breakdown…if you’re new here.”/

HEY GORDY!

BALLAD OF JIMI HENDRIX

DIAMONDS AND RUST (Extended Version)

(59:02): “Oooh, we get extras…”

IDENTITY (See also the “Seasoning the Obese” EP – 2000) /

“It ends with Ram It Up, right?”

6 SONGS IN 9 SECONDS /

“A little bit of Ram It Up and call it a night?” / #albumcover / RAM IT UP (Inferno cover)

“I feel like…anytime you’re feeling “988 down”, just put this on and you won’t feel that way anymore…you will feel immediately uplifted.”/ #988 #SAVE

“That’s the Metal Nerdery PSA for this episode…” / THANK YOU FOR JOINING US!!! / #untilthenext #outroreel