S.D.I. “Sign Of The Wicked” /Ltd. LP/

The second re-release of the second full-length album by legendary German Speed/Thrash Metal band.
S.D.I.'s debut surprisingly generated a huge cult following mostly due to the definitive love song "I Wanna Fu*k You!", ironically the weakest track on the album and overall one of the band's lesser achievements. Two years later the boys have grown considerably as musicians to the point that the listener may find it hard to believe that this was the same trio who was behind the naive inspired self-titled bash two years earlier. This is so much more advanced that the amazing transformation witnessed can almost be compared to the one experienced by their compatriots Deathrow the same year.
The opener "Coming Again" alone is an encyclopedia of Metal, a Progressive Speed/Thrash piece second to none offering loads of rhythmic shifts and tempo-changes, not to mention the gorgeous bass implements: Reinhard Kruse is a bass virtuoso, the finest bass export from Germany after Helloween's Markus Grosskopf. The latter has also improved his vocal bravado quite a bit now covering a fairly wide range of pitches including several piercing screams, more or less appropriate. Yes, the aforementioned opener is too grandiose to be on Helloween's "Walls of Jericho", Blind Guardian's "Battalions of Fear", Exumer's "Possessed by Fire", Iron Angel's "Winds of War", or even on Paradox's "Heresy"...
The title-track which follows is a total contrast to the brilliant blend of speed and melody encountered before it: it's 3-min of doomy genius, a rousing hymn with another great chorus.
"The Megamosh" is praised in the number of the same title, a pretty straightforward Speedster, the only track which has any ties to the debut music-wise.
Another praiser, this time of our favourite alcohol, logically titled "Alcohol", arrives right after , an entertaining Speed/Thrashing roller-coaster with the staple sing-along chorus and a few nice rhythmic shifts; it would make even the Tankard guys empty their tankards immediately; "Bottoms up!".
"Quick Shot" is the apparent sequel text-wise to "I Wanna..." with a girl moaning throughout, but in the music department we have a far superior Speed/Thrasher with standout bass performance. 
"Always Youth" is still more on the more immediate side, an impetuous headbanger with a nice mid-bridge.
But comes "Long Way from Home" with the adventurous vocal exploits, the steel gallops, the hectic mid-break, the infectious sing-along deviation, and the sudden tempo shifts; blissful stuff contained within mere 3-min.
However, that is not all because soon is the listener exposed to "Killer's Confession", a hard-hitting Shredder with virtuoso lead sections and a breath-taking interlude in the middle followed by an exquisite semi-balladic passage where the interaction between the leads and the bass reaches heights unheard even on the Metallica opuses at the time...
All the way to the closing "Fight" which features the only unmitigated annoyance: a man recites something in Turkish, to these ears totally off-context, before the opening riff tears the ether and continues the vigorous Thrashing until a vitriolic lead section comes splashing later on superseded by a dreamy balladic break again with a somewhat questionable function; the final headbanging passage closes the album after that. Game over.
By far one of the ten best Speed/Thrash Metal releases in German Metal history, and probably worldwide, this album remains arguably the most criminally underrated effort from the European Metal Underground. It really hurts one to see that this talented trio are chiefly remembered for their debut and the love song from there when there was so much more, and much much better music, created less than two years later... Melody and speed have very seldom been blended so well by just three musicians with such a dexterous command of the instruments.
This album is so underrated, it's comparable to anything released by the big name German Speed Metal bands from around the same time, and better than a lot of them!!
Mastered for vinyl by Patrick W. Engel at Temple of Disharmony in April 2018.
Limited Edition to 200 copies, White/Red Splatter vinyl.
BattleCry Records/High Roller Records, 1987/2021 (HRR 644). Made in Germany.


Tracklist:

Side 1
1. Comin' Again 5:36
2. Sign Of The Wicked 3:45
3. Megamosh 2:16
4. Alcohol 3:32

Side 2
1. Quick Shot 3:22
2. Always Youth 3:02
3. Long Way From Home 2:54
4. Killer's Confession 3:51
5. Fight 4:44

Total playing time: 33:14 min.