Biohazard – Urban Discipline, No Holds Barred (Live in Europe) (Reissues)
Biohazard – Urban Discipline, No Holds Barred (Live in Europe) (Reissues)
Cherry Red Records
Release Date: 14/04/23
Running Time:
Urban Discipline 75:00
No Holds Barred 63:00
Review by Rory Bentley
10/10
Not gonna lie mates, I didn’t even need to listen to the record to review this one. Some albums are so ingrained in your DNA that you know every twist and turn like the last half mile of your journey home. I mean I did still listen to the album again because it fucking rips, but nonetheless this was like putting on and old pair of brass knuckles. The lovely people at Cherry Red Records have put out another absolute belter of a reissue with Biohazard’s seminal sophomore album “Urban Discipline” and paired it with bruising live album “No Holds Barred (Live In Europe)”.
I’ve avoided reviewing reissues up until this point, but I couldn’t resist the chance to flap my gums about good old Biohazard. Although they were certainly not the first band to give us the bruising streetwise sound of New York Hardcore, their core sound is arguably the truest embodiment of it. The scuzzy guitar tone, sledgehammer beat downs and gritty gang vocals coupled with tales of urban decay and civil unrest are the bread and butter of East Coast Hardcore, but Biohazard were always capable of more than this.
The influence of Hip Hop is huge here, and rapping is employed frequently as a means to convey the violent, gang-dominated world the band lived in and the subsequently liberating power of music that pulled them away from falling in with the wrong crowd. To the uninitiated the gritty gun-talk of ‘Chamber Spins Three’ may come across as macho posturing, it’s certainly not delivered with elegance or nuance, however dig a little deeper and the song is actually a dissection of police corruption from the perspective of the oppressed.
Now cast-iron classic ‘Punishment’ presents the tough street lifestyle as anything but aspirational despite the infectious bounce of the riffs and a chorus that needs to be yelled with your shirt off. Billy’s guitar tone could remove tattoos with its scything ferocity and the almost funky rhythm section makes the morose lyrics much easier to swallow. The grooves across the record are so strong they’re almost a precursor to Nu-Metal, which despite what some of you older nerds say is not a problem for me.
Despite the caveman sonic exterior of the album, there are also some fantastic ripping lead guitars and almost Jazz-inflected drum and bass work on the likes of ‘Shades of Grey’ that show a deeper level of finesse and technical mastery than some of their more straight down the line Hardcore peers. Likewise the husky voices of Evan Seinfeld and Billy Graziadei are capable of belting out actual catchy melodies such as the clean intro to ‘Loss’. Neither of them are exactly Chris Cornell, of course, but these little details are indicative of a band that had already outgrown the Hardcore scene even in their formative years.
The accompanying live album is typically brilliant and raucous, barrelling through a set that spans the very best of the first four records and delivered with gleeful intensity and more mosh calls than could possibly be healthy for the poor/lucky fuckers that were there in the sweaty venues across the continent where this havoc was wreaked. As with most live albums it’s no substitute for being there but the band are tight and on point enough to churn out intense versions of the likes of ‘Tears of Blood’ and ‘Hold my Own’ that can still be enjoyed from the safety of your living room.
If you’re a lapsed 90s Hardcore fan there’s no better record to go back to and reignite the flame. If you were born too late to get some urban discipline the first time round but the likes of Knocked Loose and Jesus Piece get your pulse racing, this is a history lesson you’re gonna need to take. Either way, no matter which camp you’re in I’ll see you down the front for the band’s Bloodstock set, I’ll be the chubby bloke getting his ass handed to him during ‘Punishment’. Buy me a beer, I’ll fucking need one!
‘Punishment’ Official Video
TRACKLISTING:
Urban Discipline:
01. Chamber Spins Three
02. Punishment
03. Shades of Grey
04. Business
05. Black And White And Red All Over
06. Man With A Promise
07. Disease
08. Urban Discipline
09. Loss
10. Wrongside Of The Tracks
11. Mistaken Identity
12. We’re Only Gonna Die (From Our Own Arrogance)
13. Tears Of Blood
14. Hold My Own
15. Business (demo)
16. Urban Discipline (demo)
17. Loss (demo)
18. Black And White And Red All Over
No Holds Barred:
01. Shades of Grey (live)
02. What Makes Us Tick (live)
03. Authority (live)
04. Urban Discipline (live)
05. Modern Democracy (live)
06. Love Denied (live)
07. Business (live)
08. Tales From The Hard Side (live)
09. Better Days (live)
10. Victory (live)
11. Survival Of The Fittest (live)
12. Blue Blood (live)
13. Black And White And Red All Over (live)
14. Victory (Reprise) (live)
15. How It Is (live)
16. After Forever (live)
17. Tears of Blood (live)
18. German Lesson #7 (live)
19. Chamber Spins Three (live)
20. Wrong Side Of The Tracks (live)
21. Waiting To Die (live)
22. These Eyes (Have Seen) (live)
23. Punishment (live)
24. Hold My Own (live)
25. Shades of Grey (live)*
26. Punishment (live)*
LINE-UP:
Billy Graziadei – vocals, rhythm guitar (1987–2006, 2008–present)
Bobby Hambel – lead guitar (1987–1995, 2008–present)
Evan Seinfeld – vocals, bass (1987–2006, 2008–2011, 2022–present)
Danny Schuler – drums (1988–2006, 2008–present)
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Rory Bentley and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
