Biohazard – Divided We Fall
Biohazard – Divided We Fall
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Release Date: 17/10/2925
Review by Rory Bentley
9/10
I don’t normally get too personal on reviews because I know y’all ain’t here to read about my bullshit; but it has been a heck of a few weeks for me recently. Some of us at EM have had the icy grip of stupid real-life stuff keeping us from doing what we love- namely chatting bollocks about awesome Rock music. Which is to say I’m playing catch-up with a lot of stuff, including records that I would have curb-stomped a puppy to get an advanced review in for. Like this much-anticipated new album from the OG lineup from NY Hardcore/Rap Metal legends Biohazard.
As the resident Hardcore Skinhead meaty man (with a soft nerdy interior, of course), this release was always coming my way. I love Biohazard more than energy drinks and walking into an empty gym (and that’s a fuck load of love!), so the first album in 13 years with the old gang back together comes with a certain burden of expectation. Not only this but the explosion of incredible Harcore bands over the last decade, with many like Gridiron and Pain of Truth filling the gap left by Biohazard, sees the band returning into a landscape of fierce competition, where past achievements and nostalgia will only get you so far. The weight of expectation may be heavy, but have you seen how jacked these guys are?!
“Divided We Fall” is a total riot from front to back, with the band sounding more fired up than they have in decades! ‘Fuck The System’ is total destruction, beginning with a killer crossover riff and Evan and Billy roaring out the lyrics with boiling anger. The gritty urban vibes could have been lifted straight from “State of the World” address, yet this doesn’t feel like a nostalgic retread.
‘Forsaken’ is so fired up and heavy it’s hard to believe it’s being played by dudes in their 50s. Billy sounds fucking furious, and those signature mini bursts of Slayer solos are like a shot of pure adrenaline every time they hit. Plus, the mosh call of “Step to the rhythm of the Brooklyn beat” is as iconic as it gets.
There are not necessarily any radical musical departures or surprises as such on the album, apart from the sheer quality of the new material and just how excellent the performances are. “Eyes On Six” is as good as Biohazard gets, part tough guy threats and part motivational speech with the riffs and beats to match the lyrical boldness, and ‘Word To The Wise’ is speedy and sludgy in all the right ways. For me, the album I’d compare it to is, bizarrely, Judas Priest’s “Firepower”. That is to say it’s a classic artist dropping a release that in some ways is total fan-service, but totally rammed with quality and boiling intensity to the point where you can’t quite believe they’ve been able to deliver something that smacks the shit out of all their peers and can throw down with any young band operating in the same sphere.
At 38 minutes and ending with the crushing ‘Warrior’, “Divided We Fall” is everything you’d want from a legacy artist, without feeling like a legacy album. For me it’s their best album in over 30 years and it’s burrowed so deep into my top 20 even Billy, Evan and the lads wouldn’t be hench enough to get it out.
“Eyes on Six” Official Video
TRACKLISTING:
01. Fuck the System
02. Forsaken
03. Eyes On Six
04. Death of Me
05. Word To The Wise
06. Fight To Be Free
07. War Inside Me
08. S.I.T.F.O.A.
09. Tear Down The Walls
10. I Will Overcome
11. Warriors
LINKS:
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