C'mon in, hop into my time machine, we'll take a trip back. The year is 1992. Rap is king, heavy metal is fading back into the underground and grunge is just starting to rear it's ugly head. A little-known band out of Brooklyn, NYC is tearing up the club scene in NYC and beyond. They have released a self-titled indie debut. They had toured Europe and signed with Roadrunner Records for one album. Little did they know that that one album would break them out of the underground, get rid of their day jobs and make Biohazard a staple of comercialized hardcore music for years to come. Urban Discipline was recorded in two weeks in May & June 1992 on a tiny budget. It proved to be the breakthrough for a band that would influnce the likes of Korn, Disturbed and many, many more.
The entire album is a testament to life on the streets of Brooklyn, or any other city. Blisteringly heavy with lyrical topics to match, the album shows no compromise whatsoever. The take it-or leave it New York HardCore attitude is prevalent throughout the entire album. There are no ballads or melodies, just raw, heavy in-your-face aggression. The traditional hardcore drumming, mixed with a heavy-metal type dual guitar attack and a rap-hardcore fusion reminiscent of recent "nu-metal" groups all combine to show the world a new style. To me, Biohazard started nu-metal. With songs like "Wrong Side Of The Tracks" and "Hold My Own," they sucessfully created the rapcore sound that would be duplicated to great commercial success later on. Songs like "Business," an anti-big business song about the music industry and "Chamber Spins Three" and the title track "Urban Discipline" about life on the streets, show what heavy music should be today. The only CD I've heard since this one came out that even holds a candle to the raw agression and power is Disturbed's The Sickness and even that great album falls short.
Article comments
1 - Charles Hueter
"The only CD I've heard since this one came out that even holds a candle to the raw agression and power is Disturbed's The Sickness and even that great album falls short."
Interesting comparison. I've had the Biohazard and Disturbed albums for a few years now, and in my humble opinion the two aren't remotely comparable in terms of aggression and power. Something more like Pantera's Vulgar Display of Power, Sepultura's Roots, etc. Of course, those albums didn't follow the nu-metal/rapcore footsteps set forth by Biohazard, but if yer gonna grade something on it's level of intensity and stark emotional power, I wouldn't pick Disturbed for a list of the top 50. It may roll some eyes, but my first thought would be to compare it to Limp Bizkit's Three Dollar Bill Y'all.
Anyway, cheers for the trip down early-90's memory lane. I've got that CD on my MP3 playlist at home. I think it's time I fired it up again! >=)
-Drizzten
2 - Sascha Kobitz
Hell yeah man,
Biohazard's Urban Discipline is one of the best Cd's ever recorded.
This record actually got me into NY Hardcore and not into Nu Metal.
I wouldn't compare it to Disturbed's Sickness, though. I think you can't really compare it to any CD's out there, it's just so fucking unique.
The atmosphere and the agressional power just blasted me away when I was 12 and still impresses me. And songs like "Man with a promise" and "Business" opened my eyes about the music business when I was young.
BIOHAZARD DOWN FOR LIFE!!!