S.O.D.--The Stormtroopers of Death--were the unwitting standard-bearers of the '80s thrash scene with their killer bass riffs, sing-along choruses and tongue-in-cheek "I hate people" lyrics. What started as a spontaneous, brutally heavy, funny band turned into a legendary outfit because of their wit and unrelenting heaviness. People just loved that there was a band so irreverent, politically incorrect and unbearably heavy with just a hint of hook kicking around the US, and they ate up S.O.D. Speak English or Die is a remarkable album that should be in every person's collection, bar none. It is fun, heavy and will rock you into the next world. Last year or so...The four compadres got back together and spawned another work--Bigger Than the Devil--and then popped off for a nice nationwide tour together. Now the boys are going to headline at the Milwaukee Metalfest. My advice: get there before it's all over. Call it kismet or whatever, but this is a short-lived band (band members are in other bands, managing other bands and their ages are over 30) and it is best to get there before everyone splinters off into their own direction and S.O.D. goes by the wayside. If you live near Milwaukee, get a ticket and raise the lighter skyward in tribute to the tongue-in-cheek Kings of Thrash.

Earpollution caught S.O.D. in Orlando, Florida at The Station and interviewed Danny Lilker--bassist extraordinaire--and Billy Milano, tough guy vocalist. There were some great photographs, especially when Danny posed à la metal (2 birds and a beer) and Billy held up the Earpollution card. But between Y2K, my mother-in-law's computer, digital cameras, Windows 95 & 98 differences and a corrupt CD-ROM, the photographs were not destined to make it to print. My apologies for the loss of the photographs to the band and the fans.

I know you've been in a couple of pro-marijuana bands, so you are obviously for the legalization of marijuana; are you involved with any coalitions or associations or is it just a personal vice?

Danny Lilker: No, only if you count that I was in bands like Exit 13 and Brutal Truth and they pushed it really hard in interviews, but we weren't involved with groups that organized protests or told people to write their politicians or shit like that. Just if asked in an interview, "Why do you have pot leaves on covers?" we would discuss legalizing marijuana. It's not an S.O.D. thing, but you asked about it, so I can answer it. If someone would say something about it we would encourage conversations about it or we just say that it is very hypocritical to say that pot is illegal but not alcohol is not. I mean I enjoy alcohol and tobacco too, but still it's just as extremely stupid to keep pot illegal. No, no organizations or coalitions, just...

Just personal then.

Danny: Just too lazy to get involved in those things, I guess.

As a veteran of many metal bands, you've watched the metal scene fade from its glory years with the hair and glam metal bands on the charts and retreat further underground. Has it strengthened the scene and made it more original or has the scene stagnated?

Danny: There is still commercial metal around like Limp Bizkit and Korn. Except that now suburban white kids try to act like inner city homeboys, but then again underneath all that stuff is a strong death and black metal scene. So it depends; the heavier musics will always be underground because it's just not for everybody. There will always be levels in the scene. If you look hard enough, the underground will always be thriving somewhere. There is always going to be stuff that they call metal that I don't agree is metal, but I try not to let it get to me too much.

Danny: Just mostly extreme metal, like black and death metal. It's very therapeutic.

With S.O.D. you write a lot of songs that are pointed at various ethnic groups like the Spanish people on "Speak English or Die." You have a lot of so-called politically incorrect lyrics. Have you ever had any groups come up against you due to your lyrics?

Danny: Nah, we've had people in the punk rock scene get bent out of shape who were essentially left wing and didn't get the sardonic aspect of our music. We did it just because we know people like that are going to get pissed off and it's fun to watch them get mad. But we've never had people picketing outside our gigs or anything like that. God, if we did we'd just send Billy out there.

That would pretty much put an end to it.

Danny: Unhuh.

As I get older, I find that it is more difficult to write material; when I was younger it just seemed like everything flowed so easy and now it gets a little harder. I've heard it put this way: Everyone has a story or a song that is inside of them, once you've popped out the first few it seems to diminish in quality after that. Sometimes it seems that as we get older, we tend to make points rather than just let the music flow and have fun with it. Is it still fun for you guys?

Danny: Oh, absolutely. When we wrote this record, I used riffs that had been around in my brain for a long time. I couldn't use them with Brutal Truth because they play only psychotic grindcore. This record was actually easy to come up with a lot of stuff. It wasn't like we were all used up or anything. It was very fresh to write thrash-style riffs and hardcore type shit. Well, we can make a point and have a good time. It's still an offensive record, it's just a little more articulate. A lot more humor, actual sarcasm. But it's still very offensive.

Danny: Oh yeah, it's like the old joke: fuck 'em if they can't take a joke. That's our philosophy.

It should be, too!

Danny: Oh yeah, the music is the most important thing. The lyrics are put there, well, 'cause we have to have fucking lyrics, now, don't we? So let's just make them really extreme or something. You can ask anyone in the band--the music is what's got us...that's what really made people flip out.

What are you doing now that Brutal Truth has ended? Is S.O.D. going to be a full-time job? Or is it going to be one record and a sabbatical for ten years?

Danny: Well, all I can say is that if we do a record it will not take fourteen more years--that I can promise you. I have also been in a black metal band called Hemlock for a couple of years, but we aren't terribly active. We haven't done a show since August 1998 or so.

Is there anyone else we would know in Hemlock?

Danny: Well, if you've ever heard of a band called Ceremonium, there are a couple of people that are involved with that. In his other Persona, the drummer for Hemlock plays bass in a hardcore band called Skarhead.

Kind of a whole different style for him?

Danny: He plays drums with one band and bass with another so it's kind of a different schizophrenic thing.

Why did it take fourteen years to come back with another album? Were you busy with other things?

Danny: That's some of it. It takes a lot of time set aside not only for writing and making the record but also for touring and promoting the record. In order to support the records properly like a real band, we had to have a lot of time set aside to do it properly. For the first time ever, when Brutal Truth broke up a year ago I wasn't really in an active band, 'cause Hemlock--we do a couple of shows and rehearse somewhere, but it wasn't like we went out on tour and put up record after record for the recording company. Consequently if we ever do go to Europe as Hemlock it will only be for a couple of weeks with some other band. So my time was all of the sudden freed up and that helps. Anthrax...as far as their schedule, they're still doing all their shit so those guys are really very busy.

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