Stormtroopers Of Death - Speak English Or Die (1985) - Switch your brains off and then some! - 65% (16/04/12)

Stormtroopers Of Death are a sort of super group with members from legendary bands such as Anthrax that just wanted to have some fun and created a short and entertaining record around a strange character called Sergeant D. who hates pretty much everything. Just take a look on the hilarious cover artwork by guitarist Scott Ian. The record has the vibe of a party album with many hilarious lyrics such as in the engaging title track "Speak English Or Die" that portrays a special view on immigration coming from a closed minded racist, in the amusingly chaotic interlude "What's That Noise" or in "Pre-Menstrual Princess Blues" which is a parody of a young female teen in her starting puberty. Just the titles of the tracks are quite amusing when we take a look on "Pussy Whipped", "Fuck The Middle East" or an "extended" version of "Diamonds And Rust" that lasts for exactly four seconds.

So far, so good, so funny. I don't want to seem severe or boring and know that the project doesn't take itself very serious but there is nevertheless the musical side of this album. From that point of view, the record is a huge letdown. The vocals are horribly weak and exchangeable. The guitar riffs are one dimensional all the time. The best thing from a musical point of view is the solid and diversified bass play and the precise drumming. The song structures and lengths are all quite alike and the record only focuses on its nasty lyrics. Musically, we have a mixture of hardcore punk with some thrash and speed metal bits which may have been a rather original crossover fusion back in the time but after three tracks, everything sounds the same and the experiment isn't quite interesting to observe anymore as everything has already happened. The band is composed by excellent musicians that could have added a little bit more into the band's sound in my opinion. As it is, I know a lot of hardcore punk bands from the early eighties that have been there before as they sound quite similar and even better than this at some points and maybe this formation wanted to pay a tribute to them or introduce some metal fans to this genre. As we can see from the number of reviews and the record’s reputation, these guys have succeeded and were right to feel free to do whatever they wanted to on this piece of musical freedom that takes no prisoners.

As is it is right now, this record is a party album for punks and metal heads after a couple of beers and has a cult status for its nasty attitude, its straight simplicity and its weird lyrics. It's an album one should have listened to once in a lifetime but nothing you would like to listen to more than only once in a while when the moment has come to lose yourself in a pitiless mosh pit. That's what this courageous album was made for and it's definitely effective from that point of view and that's why it still merits a solid rating. As the whole thing gets though quite redundant in its short running time, this record won't get an excellent note from me, though and my final verdict seems rather neutral. In the end, I give you an advice: You're definitely better off to be in a hilarious mood, accompanied by some wild friends and you should also switch your brain off to fully enjoy this record.