Crab Society North

Updated on Oct 29, 2023

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Released July 1, 1985 Producer not produced Release date 1 July 1985		Length 14:02 Artist Stormtroopers of Death

Crab Society North (1985) Speak English or Die (1985) Genres Thrash metal, Crossover thrash, Thrashcore Similar Stormtroopers of Death albums, Thrash metal albums

Crab Society North is a demo by American Crossover thrash band Stormtroopers of Death. It was recorded on July 1, 1985 with a walkman put into a speaker. The demo was recorded in the kitchen of Pyramid Sound studios and contains mostly improvised material.

Stormtroopers of death crab society north full demo

Historical curio

The audio quality of the recording is substandard by any meter. However, it ultimately led to more widespread notoriety of the ultra-short "blipcore", as the longest 'song' on the demo—"Papa Benjamin"—is merely 57 seconds long.

Some of the songs found their way to subsequent releases by various bands. Stormtroopers of Death re-recorded the song "Diamonds & Rust" for their debut album Speak English Or Die; Billy Milano's band Method of Destruction recorded and released "Jim Gordon", "Bubble Butt" and "Bushwackateas" on their debut album U.S.A. For M.O.D.. Stormtroopers Of Death also incorporated a Crab Society North medley into their live shows; a short 7-second potpourri consisting of "Not!", "Momo", "Taint", "The Camel Boy" and "Diamonds & Rust". Included in the medley was the Stormtroopers of Death original "Anti-procrastination Song". They also performed "Vitality" on various occasions. Further, the track "Taint" was recorded and released by Anthrax as a B-side on their 1987 Indians EP.

Note that this is the first recording ever by Stormtroopers of Death. The name of the unit had, according to Scott Ian, been conceived the same day.

Title

The original Crab Society consisted of bass players Dan Lilker, known from Anthrax and Nuclear Assault, and Craig Setari, known from Agnostic Front, NYC Mayhem and Straight Ahead. Crab Society had recorded a similar demo on a cheap C-tape deck, with short bursts of improvised noise, purposefully overdriven and distorted. When the other members of Stormtroopers of Death heard the tape, they wanted to record a similarly structured demo. To differentiate the two projects the demo was called Crab Society North, since the studio was located upstate New York, geographically north of the original setting