Live at Budokan

I think I must've been 13 or 14 when an older friend of mine gave us spotty, snotty kids the VCR tape for this concert, and I have never forgotten the night we sat in the dingy teenage bedroom of another mate of mine, watching it as if it were the creating deity laying out the meaning of life for us hormone-addled bunch of teenage numbskulls. Everything about it was awesome, making me wish that I had been there. That first shot of the marquee billing the S.O.D. reunion, supported by both Agnostic Front and Morbid Angel, Billy Milano jumping off a stack of amplifiers, probably dislocating a fair few spines and shoulders in the crowd because he's not exactly built like a Disney princess, Billy verbally abusing both crowd members as well as his band mates, that fart in the microphone that had us all up in stitches for a week, I could keep going. A few years later I found this album in the second hand bin, so there was no friggin' doubt about it that this was coming home with me!!

And yeah, it has all the atmosphere of that VCR intact here, of course without the interview segments. Hell, it even has stuff on it that had not made the video, like apparently some fight breaking out in the audience, or something like that. But most importantly, what it had was all those fucking AWESOME songs from that indestructible classic "Speak English or Die", brought to you courtesy of the gentlemen Milano, Lilker, Benante and Ian. And it might be the nostalgia speaking here, but you can rest assured that this concert KILLS!!

To anyone that might be in the unknown about what S.O.D. sounds like, it's a combination of sharp thrash metal riffing, punk energy and hardcore midtempo mosh parts, poured into well composed, powerful and compact tracks, that quite quickly embed themselves in your brain. Variation is the word here, with fast thrashing alternating with midtempo stomp, and even some grindcore thrown in. A big part of the sound are the unique vocals of Billy Milano, spewing forth the sarcastic (and often controversial) lyrics, it's legendary stuff, for sure.

Now, the show itself. After an introduction that has aged not that well, the band launches into the legendary stomp of "March of the S.O.D.", still sending shivers down my spine after all these years, and you can hear immediately that the sound quality is immense. I have a feeling that there has been some tinkering involved, because Dan Lilker's bass shifts around in the total mix here and there, but that's OK for me, because the performance sounds incredibly heavy throughout, with leading roles for the drums, guitars and especially the vocals. Best thing about this LP is that you can hear that the band is having fun, while delivering classic cut after classic cut. Awesome is also the "Raining Blood" intro worked into the track "Speak English or Die", which drives the crowd borderline mental. Mistakes are made and playing isn't always that tight, but it all adds to the atmosphere and the spontaneous attitude S.O.D. had to begin with. To pad out the show, the band play a bunch of covers by the likes of Fear ("I Love Livin' in the City", recorded by Milano's own M.O.D. as well), an M.O.D. one, a couple of Ministry tracks, and surprisingly, a cover of "Territorial Pissings" by Nirvana, something that I am sure would've absolutely horrified Kurt Cobain. There are also a couple of new songs, but most of these are just blibs lasting only mere seconds. Amusing, yes, but neglectable in the big picture. Completing the picture is the stage banter by especially Milano, who just about verbally abuses anyone in sight. This record might lack the visuals, but even without that, the atmosphere on here is simply awesome. Again, if only I could've been there.

Unfortunately, S.O.D. would make the mistake of reforming and even releasing a new album in the late 90's, and in doing so, completely piss all over their legacy. Not only because that "Bigger than the Devil" thing sucks balls, but it also killed that whole 'lightening in a bottle' feeling that hung around the band and their first album. Usually, I just pretend that that never happened, but I lament their decision to this day. I'm pretty sure they themselves do too, but that's a whole other story.

In the end, this is still a great live album, emanating a shitload of atmosphere, but it's first and foremost a fun one! We get great music combined with a grand dose of atmosphere, and if you just add some (OK, OK, a lot of) drops of nostalgia to that mix, you have a fantastic document, right there. Not only of a legendary night in the early 90's in New York, but also of a simpler time in Belgium almost around the same time, for me personally.