Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian, along with Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante and Nuclear Assault bassist Dan Lilker, just released a cover of Stormtroopers of Death’s “Chromatic Death,” according to Blabbermouth. This comes off the heels of the trio covering a few S.O.D. tracks earlier in the month during a video conference, including a a brief intro from “March of the S.O.D.”
The cover, much like the original song, is a brilliant display of the technical abilities the musicians possess, and sounds a lot like if someone injected Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee” with a massive dose of heavy metal. Ian and Lilker show off their technical prowess on the guitar and bass respectively, as they play dazzling chromatic figures at high speeds with ease. All the while, Benante is holding down the blazingly fast tempo of the song on the drums, and playing at both lightning speed and utter precision.
S.O.D. is composed of all three of the musicians, but they have not done anything official as a band in decades. The last S.O.D. studio album, Rise of the Infidels, was released back in 2007. Lilker, who was one of the original members of Anthrax along with Ian and Benante, first reunited with his Anthrax members through the creation of S.O.D.
Ian stated in 2018 about the possibility of a potential reunion, “I would absolutely do S.O.D. again if the situation was right and it felt like it was in the spirit of what the band is about. I would definitely do it again. I would love to go play some festivals. I would love to go play [European] festivals. We did it in ’99 and 2000, and it was fucking awesome.” Ian is currently a part of Mr. Bungle along with Slayer co-founder Dave Lombardo.
Photo Credit: Boston Lynn Schulz